Battle of a Lifetime
by DragnBlak
Summary: When Dark Matter steals the Rainbow Bridges and hides the Rainbow Drops, it's up to Kirby and pals to get them back and defeat Dark Matter. This is my interpretation of Kirby's Dream Land 2's plot. Please R+R! *Ch. 10 up and new 1/04/03!!!!!*
1. Mystery of the Missing Bridges

Kirbyprologue ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: Hey, everyone! This is my first attempt at a Kirby fic, so bear with me, OK? Reviews are welcome, and flames are welcome, too—I always enjoy a good laugh since I know my stories are bad. But they're fun to write, and as I see it, that's what's important. ^_^ Enjoy!

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter One: Mystery of the Missing Bridges

"A little higher, just a little… bit…"

It was a sizzling hot day in Dream Land—Grassland to be precise—and Kirby was trying to grab an apple from a particularly high tree branch by standing on Rick the hamster's shoulders.

"C'mon, Rick, can't you tippy-toe just a LITTLE more?" Kirby asked.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can—I don't exactly have Parasol Power, ya know."

"Well, maybe that's what we need…" Kirby looked around for an unsuspecting Floaty the Drifter.

"Or _I_ could just help you," called a new voice.

Coo the owl flew from seemingly nowhere to pluck the apple from the tree and drop it into Kirby's hands.

"Oh, thanks, Coo. I wasn't sure I'd EVER be able to reach it," Kirby said, getting down from Rick's shoulders.

"Ooh, my back…" Rick moaned.

Kirby gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, Rick, I guess riding on your shoulders is a bit different from standing on them," Kirby said.

"Not by much…"

"What?"

****

O_o; "Oh, oh, n-nothing. It's OK, Kirby—at least we got the apple!" Rick said, a little too quickly.

****

*Sigh* "I really hope this drought in Grassland ends soon. I know it's summer and all, but jeez, this is ridiculous!" cried Kirby in exasperation.

Coo landed on the ground next to Rick and Kirby. "Anyway, I came to tell you guys—"he began as a sly grin came across his face, "and it seems that I came at a good time—that there are lots more apples just waiting to be eaten in Big Forest," he finished.

"Well, it would sure beat scrounging around here for fruit—it's like some balance has been thrown off course with this crazy famine!" Kirby replied.

"Man, that's so weird how Big Forest has plenty of food while you guys are stretching yourselves thin for one measly apple," Coo mused.

"Thanks, Coo."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Rick impatiently cried. "Let's go! I'm still hungry." He clutched his tummy to emphasize his hunger.

"OK, Rick, we're going. Let's see, now, which way's the Rainbow Bridge?"

"Oh, Mr. Hero of Popstar can't remember where the Rainbow Bridge is," Rick taunted.

"Rick, what is WITH you today?"

"I TOLD you about a million times: I'M HUNGRY!" Rick yelled as he stamped his foot.

****

-_-; "Well, if you'd quit your snide remarks we'd get there faster. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's this way," Kirby decided, glaring at Rick and pointing to a rather large hill now covered with brown grass from the drought.

The trio set off for the Rainbow Bridge to Big Forest, Coo's home area, to delight in sinking their teeth into the sweet, juicy apples. Coo carried Kirby in his talons to give Rick a break (and to avoid his cranky remarks). Greenland was a mess; all the grass had turned brown and the fruitbearing trees had very little to give. When the neared the Rainbow Bridge, they were greeted by their other friend, Kine the fish. He seemed very upset about something.

"Guys! GUYS!" he shouted, bounding toward Kirby and the gang as fast as he could. Being a fish he couldn't travel very well on land.

"Oh, it's terrible! It's awful! It's horrible! It's—"

"Kine! Calm down! What's the matter?" Kirby asked.

"They're gone!"

"What are gone?"

"The Bridges!"

-_^ "…The bridges?"

"YES!" Kine answered, a little annoyed with Kirby's puerile interrogation. "The Rainbow Bridges have disappeared!"

"WHAT?" Rick, Coo, and Kirby cried simultaneously.

They all ran the rest of the way to the Rainbow Bridge… but it wasn't there.

"Wha... where did it go?" Coo said despairingly.

"Well, you flew over here. You didn't notice that it was missing?" Rick questioned.

"Hey, _I_ was too busy coming to let _you_ and your hungry _stomach_ know that you weren't going to starve. I wasn't exactly taking a joyride," Coo retorted.

Kirby stepped between them. "Guys, this is NOT the time to fight. We need to figure out what the heck is going on," he said.

"Now, let's see… the Bridges are sustained by the power of the Rainbow Drops… maybe if we collect all of them we can bring them back." Kirby concluded.

"OK, but that doesn't tell us what happened to them in the first place," Rick countered, forgetting his hunger.

"Maybe I could help," a timid voice said. Out of the bushes came Waddle Dee.

"Waddle Dee? What happened? Why are you hiding in the bushes?" Rick inquired.

Waddle Dee warily looked around him before replying, "Well, I was playing here with Sparky and Bouncy Ty, when it suddenly got really dark. We looked up, and the scariest looking black blob came down and took the Bridge away. But not before he sent out some mist that… I don't know… hypnotized my brothers and told them, 'Go my slaves, destroy the light, and remember the name, _Dark Matter_.' It scared me, so I ran and hid in a bush. The mist couldn't reach me there, but I was too scared to figure out why. When the darkness passed, the others had empty looks on their faces and kept saying, 'Destroy the light, destroy the light!' I also saw him with a Rainbow Drop hide it somewhere else on the island, saying, 'Now even Kirby won't be able to stop me!' Oh, now I don't know what to do!" Waddle Dee began to cry.

While Kine tried to comfort him, Kirby looked for the bush Waddle Dee had hidden behind. It was a wild Maxim Tomato plant, thick and dense from lack of care. But what really piqued Kirby's interest was the fact that the only thing underneath it was some colorful, sparkling dust.

"Oh no… the Rainbow Drops! This is where I had the Grassland Rainbow Drop! He really did hide it somewhere so that we couldn't find it!"

"Rainbow Drop? Oh, THAT must be why the mist didn't hurt me!" Waddle Dee concluded happily.

Kine inquired, "But if we can't find the Rainbow Drops, then how will we get the Bridges back?" 

"Actually, Kine, the Drops have another purpose that I believe Dark Matter was trying to avoid," Kirby told him.

****

O.o "What? The Rainbow Drops do something else!?"

"Oh yeah! I remember!" Coo cried. "Legend says that when the Drops are all brought together, they create the Rainbow Sword, the ultimate weapon against darkness!"

"That's right, and I think that's what we need to do," Kirby finished.

"But what about the Bridges?" Rick asked.

"The Dreamlanders will have to be patient until we can defeat Dark Matter," said Kirby.

"Although I don't think we'd want them to follow us anyway," Waddle Dee said shakily.

"Why's that?"

"Because they're all after us, Kirby!"

The group turned around and saw Efreeti, Jumpershoot, and Master Green suddenly charging at them with evil looks in their eyes.

****

O.o "Holy crud! We need to get out of here quick!" Kirby whistled and a Warpstar suddenly flew from nowhere.

"Get on everyone, there's no time!" Kirby yelled. But it was too late.

"Aack, get away!"

"No, I don't want to go!"

"Leave me alone, I'm still hungry!"

"Kirby!" Coo called. "Go ahead without us! As long as you defeat any enemies guarding us, we will join you later!" With that, Kine, Coo, Rick, and even Waddle Dee disappeared.

As Kirby soared over Grassland and looked for the first Rainbow Drop, he sadly said to himself, "Great, without all my friends here, this may not be as easy as I thought…"

****

Next chapter: Kirby travels all over Grassland in search of the Rainbow Drop. Will he find a friend to help him? Will he discover the reason behind the drought and famine? And what has happened to Waddle Dee and the others? You have to read and review to find out! And remember, Venus loves you! ~Saur, Venusaur!~


	2. Problems with Parasols

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: Wow, I got a lot more support than I really expected for this fic! I'd like to thank Silver Shot, cardcaptor syaoran, and especially DestinyLord7381 for the encouraging reviews!

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Two: Problems with Parasols

Last time, Kirby and his friends discovered the Rainbow Bridges stolen and the Rainbow Drops hidden by a new and powerful enemy: Dark Matter. Dark Matter also took control of the Dreamlanders' minds, and they kidnapped Rick, Coo, Kine, and even Waddle Dee! Now Kirby must find each of the seven Rainbow Drops while looking for his pilfered friends, and he begins his journey in Grassland…

"Well, at least Grassland isn't all that big, or else I'd REALLY be in trouble," Kirby reassured himself. "I'll start in Warp Door One—as long as no more of Dark Matter's minions try to stop me."

As if on cue, an army of Bronto Burts came diving at him—and they didn't look too happy.

"Kirby must be destroyed!" they chanted in a monotone manner.

"Great. Just great. ***sigh*** Sorry, guys, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice," Kirby stated, just before he made lunch of the onslaught of enemies.

Next, Kirby was face-to-face with one of Waddle Dee's brothers, along with a bunch of Bouncy Tys—which were a little too bouncy for Kirby's sake.

"Ouch! Oh, one got me! You'll have to pay for that! C'mon, guys, I need to save Dreamland!"

Kirby sucked up a Star Block to hit Bouncy Ty with, but as he did so, he noticed a small star.

"Huh, I wonder what this does…" Kirby wondered as he went up to it. As he picked it up, it began to glow and disappeared.

"Whoa, WHAT was that?" But Kirby had no time to figure it out just then because a ticked-off Broom Hatter decided that Kirby needed to be swept away.

"Oh, no, you don't," Kirby declared before sucking it up and shooting it back at another Bronto Burt.

Kirby entered a door and met up with a few more enemies. He easily sucked them up and used them against others.

"Jeez, they're really out to get me this time," he said, just before he was hit by yet another Bouncy.

"Holy cow! If I get hit any more I won't be around much longer TO save Dreamland!" he cried, rubbing his aching head. Ahead of him was a small bridge, and underneath that bridge was a door.

Unable to defy his sense of curiosity, Kirby entered the door to find a load of star blocks, another star, a Floaty the Drifter and…

"A potion! Just what I needed!" Kirby cried. He inhaled Floaty and gained Parasol Power before grabbing the potion and the star piece. "Strange, I've never seen these stars before. I must've found about five of them already. I really wish I knew what these things were for…"

He left the room, waiting until the Poppy Bro. Jr. and the Waddle Dee above him had gone before jumping up and continuing, past a Star Block pyramid and another onslaught of enemies, to the final door that would lead him back to the core of the island.

****

*Sigh* I guess I'll try Door number Two… why do I feel like I'm on a game show?"

Now his first enemy was a Flamer, a possessor of Burning Power.

"Hey, a new power! I think I'll use this instead," he said, discarding the Parasol star and inhaling Flamer.

He was able to use this new ability to blast through several more of Dark Matter's minions and Star Blocks. He had to watch his timing, though, lest his burning charge end right in front of an attacking enemy. Eventually, he came upon another door.

In this room, however, he saw a bag tied to the ceiling, twisting and writhing. Underneath the bag he saw Efreeti, one of the guys who took away his friends. One of them must be in that sack!

"Yes, Kirby, one of your friends is in that bag," Efreeti said, reading Kirby's thoughts. "I believe it's your rodent friend, Rick. If you can defeat me, he's all yours… IF you can defeat me," he emphasized with a smug grin.

"Fine, if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get!" Kirby cried. He began his flaming assault, but Efreeti jumped up and out of the way.

"Hahaha, you'll have to do better than that," he said, beginning his own fiery charge.

But Kirby knew what to do. When Efreeti was just yards away, he charged at Efreeti with all the firepower he had. Efreeti was hit.

"You half-witted pink marshmallow! I'll teach you to mess with me!" Kirby knew that someone with such fiery power also had a fiery temper, and now Efreeti's rage was clouding his judgment. Kirby easily attacked him several more times, and Efreeti was knocked out cold.

The bag that was hung on the ceiling came crashing down, and Rick laboriously (and amusingly) wiggled out of the sack.

"Whew, it's about time, Kirby! It was getting stuffy in there," he said, letting Kirby jump onto his shoulders.

"Gee, Rick, I get attacked at all sides, almost get burned to death, and I don't get as much as a thank you," Kirby teased.

"Sorry, Kirby. They stuffed me in that poor excuse for a potato bag, and I STILL didn't get enough to eat! That apple just wasn't enough."

"Well, Rick, now you have the chance to eat everything in sight… before they try to destroy us, preferably."

"Hehehe, sounds like fun," Rick said with a gleam in his eye.

They went through the door that mysteriously appeared after the battle and were greeted by another Floaty.

"Kirby, I'm getting rid of this power. I don't want to barbecue my lunch," Rick said, making Floaty the Drifter hesitate, just a little.

Rick discarded the Burning star and swallowed the dumbfounded Floaty, copying its Parasol Power.

"Nope, this won't do—I can't inhale with an ability."

"Well, it might come in handy, Rick. Can't you forget your hunger for a LITTLE bit?"

Rick thought a moment (quite a long moment, actually) before answering, "Mmm, nah," and got rid of his Parasol.

Kirby laughed. "Sometimes I think your appetite is bigger than mine, Rick."

"Well, you were out swallowing everything in sight while I was in that hot, stuffy sack—of COURSE you aren't hungry now!" Kirby just laughed again.

They came across more of the automaton Waddles and Floaties, and another (much needed after the battle) potion, but Rick had to jump high to suck up the Star Block that held it.

"See? I TOLD you to keep the Parasol."

"Hey, I got the potion, didn't I?" Rick growled.

"Still need food, I see. Hey, look, the last door! And another of those stars…" Kirby grabbed it.

Suddenly, the other six stars appeared with this one and they all began to glow. This time, however, the glow set itself on the buddies and they felt a strange rejuvenation, although not the same kind he felt when they drank the potion.

"So THESE are the stars Master Green was talking about…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, after they took us from you they immediately put us in those bags, but I still heard him and Jumpershoot talking about some little stars they said they found shortly after the Drops were hidden. Master Green was saying how he tried to see what they did, but every time he went up to one he got shocked. Jumpershoot said that they were probably created by the Drops somehow and that they can't do any harm anymore since Darkness has taken over. I guess that was what it was."

"Oh, if they are from the Drops, then they MUST be helpful! You felt that strange energy, right?" Rick nodded. Kirby went on, "Lemme think… I think that was the seventh one I found. I guess that weird glowing thing happens after every seven stars."

"Well, the only way we'll find out is to keep collecting them!"

They went through the final door back to Grassland's center to enter the third and last door.

"You know, if the Drop isn't here, then I would have NO idea where else to look," Kirby fretted.

"We'll find it, don't worry," Rick said brightly.

"Jeez, just five minutes ago you were ready to bite my head off… well, if I HAD a head you could bite off…"

****

O_o "You know what? After that star thing I don't feel grouchy anymore!"

"That's a relief," Kirby whispered to himself.

"I heard that!"

"Yeah, well, don't think I didn't hear what you said earlier when I got down from your shoulders after getting the apple!"

****

O_O;;; Needless to say, Rick decided to drop the subject about that one.

They inhaled and leaped their way through to the next door. They came upon a hill crawling with enemies, and once again regretted not keeping the stupid umbrella since they didn't want to jump INTO any bad guys. They did OK, but unfortunately, they didn't expect a Crack-Tweet to come tumbling down from the very top, next to the door.

"Tweet!"

"OW! Good grief, that shell's as hard as rock!"

With bumps on their heads, Rick and Kirby entered the door to find none other than the Grassland Rainbow Drop enclosed by indestructible blocks and two different looking blocks just beneath the Rainbow Drop's platform.

"Wow, how lucky is this!" Kirby cried.

"Wait, what are those strange blocks underneath it?" Rick jumped down and examined them. 

"They're Power Blocks," he concluded. "They can only be broken by a specific ability."

"But which one?"

"Well, so far we've only come across two, so it's either Burning or—"

"Rick, if it's Parasol Power, I'm afraid I'm going to have to hit you."

"Haha, very funny. Well, I guess we'll have to go on ahead and see what we find."

They went past the Drop and through the door, and wouldn't you know it? They were face-to-face with yet ANOTHER Floaty the Drifter.

"Jeez, they must have a heck of a time at family reunions," Kirby mused.

Rick gained its power and went back to the Drop. They stood right beneath the Power Blocks and Rick pushed Kirby right through on his red-and-white parasol.

They jumped up and grabbed the Rainbow Drop. "All right! One down, six to go! OW! Hey, what was that for?"

Kirby had a sly smile on his face. "I already told you. I said if it was Parasol Power I'd have to hit you." Rick just gave him a death glare before continuing to the final door.

"Well, now all we have to do if jump on the Warp Star and go to Big Forest to get the next one!" Kirby exclaimed.

"Oops."

****

¬_^" 'Oops' what, Rick?"

"I forgot to tell you what else they said."

"They said something else and you didn't TELL me?"

"Hey, take it easy! I was stuffed into a ten-pound bag, remember?" Kirby sighed.

"Anyway," Rick continued, "Dark Matter apparently possessed six bosses to guard the Warp Stars so that you couldn't chase after him… so, you've got to beat someone else Kirby."

Kirby gave him an amused look. "I think you mean 'we', my friend."

****

O_o "Oh… yeah…"

They entered the boss door, and they found themselves confronting none other than Whispy Woods.

****

¬_^ "…We have to defeat a tree?"

A low, guttural chuckle emerged from Whispy. "I'm no ordinary tree, my friends. I am the tree who will cause your doom!" His chuckle developed into a maniacal laugh.

"Boy, Matter really got to Whispy," Kirby whispered (no pun intended) to Rick.

"Well, possessed or not, we have to defeat him to save him," Rick pointed out.

Just then, Whispy used his spiky roots to attack our heroes!

"Ouch! Whoa, didn't see that coming," Rick said.

"Forget it, Rick! Look, he's throwing apples. Suck 'em up and give him a taste of his own medicine!"

Rick did just that, and Whispy was obviously hurt. "You'll pay for that!" he cried, and he attacked with heavy duty air pellets and his roots once again.

By now, however, Rick and Kirby had grown used to this strategy. They easily dodged the roots while inhaling apples and attacking Whispy with them. Rick hit him once more, and Whispy Woods was out of commission.

He came to a minute later, asking, "Wha… what happened?"

"Don't worry, Whispy, you're going to be OK, now," Kirby said as he and Rick jumped on the now released Warp Star and continued their journey to Dark Castle. Their next stop was Big Forest for the next Rainbow Drop, and hopefully to find their friend Coo.

"All right! Big Forest! Inhaling Whispy's apples made me hungry again. Now I can have a FEAST of sweet, juicy APPLES!" I'm sure you can guess who that was… **-_-;**

A/N: OK, that was WAY longer than it should have been, and probably not as exciting as it should have been, but as the levels get tougher, the story gets better—I hope… **~** If you have any suggestions, feel free to e-mail me or tell me in a review. Flames are also welcome—I'll use them to train Venus's daughter to be resistant against fire. ^___^

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Next chapter: Now Kirby has a buddy to help him along in Big Forest. WILL they find Coo? WILL they ever discover the mystery of the famine? Has Rick forgotten to tell Kirby anything else? Will his hunger _ever_ be satisfied? You have to read and review to find out! And remember, Venus loves you! ~VEnusAUR!~


	3. A Spikey Situation

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry this took so long. I got a minor case of writer's block when I got to the part where… well, I can't tell you that! Then you won't read it. ^_^ Plus, my little brother spilled water on the keyboard, so the "a" key isn't working. I had to copy and paste almost everywhere there was an "a", so if there is a word that seems to be missing that letter, you know why, and I apologize in advance. ^_^ But I still finished it, so you can continue reading the story that I didn't even make up (remember, I'm just elaborating) b/c I have no creativity whatsoever. ^.^; And I am dedicating this chapter (and most likely the rest of the story) to DestinyLord7381 for all the support and wonderful reviews--thank you so, SO very much!

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Three: A Spikey Situation

Last time, Kirby battled Efreeti to rescue Rick. Eventually they found the Grassland Rainbow Drop, and Rick received much condemnation and many injuries from Kirby for putting his hunger over the mission. ^_^ They then defeated Whispy Woods to free him from Dark Matter's power and to get the Warp Star to Big Forest, which is where their adventure continues… 

"Oh, I can't WAIT for those big, sweet, juicy apples! I'm SO hungry!!"

"Well, what about all those baddies you swallowed back in Grassland?"

"Those were just appetizers—now I'm going for the real deal, baby!"

"Just remember that we have job to do. We're not going there for a fruit feast."

"Yeah, yeah, I know—but I can't help save Dreamland on an empty stomach, now, can I?"

Kirby just sighed as the Warp Star landed in the center of the island of Big Forest. The star hadn't even stopped before Rick jumped off and took off towards the first apple orchard. "Yummy, yummy, apples apples," he kept muttering as he sped off. Kirby followed him as fast as he could, but Rick reached it first. And something wasn't quite right…

"NNOOOOOOOO!!!! Oh for the love of Gordo, WHY???" Rick cried as he dropped to his knees (?) and viewed the empty, dried up mass of trees before him. "NOT EVEN A DAY AGO, COO SAID THERE WAS PLENTY OF FOOD! What happened?"

(**A/N**: I'm being so mean to Rick, aren't I? **Rick**: Yes, you are! What? What did I do? All I wanted were a few apples, but noooo, you can't give me those, CAN you? Waaaaahh! It's not fair! **Me**: Don't worry, Rick, it gets better, really… ^^; **Rick**: It had better…)

Kirby finally caught up with Rick and scrutinized the surroundings. "Hmm… I guess whatever is causing the drought in Grassland has finally spread here, too. You know that the famine in Grassland started in about a day, too."

"HOW can you say that so calmly? I'm going to shrivel up and die of starvation! It's probably something Dark Matter did, and you know it." Rick grumbled.

Kirby looked at Rick with a look of awe. "Rick, I think that is the most intelligent thing you've said yet!"

"Huh? You mean you think I'm right?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but it's a good start. Somehow, we'll have to find clues to figure that out. But right now we have a job to do. Come on, let's go!"

Kirby hopped on the gloomy Rick and they began their journey in Warp Door One.

"Jeez, you'd think they'd have made Warp Stars to get to these areas by now. I feel like I'm on a game show with these numbered doors," Rick remarked.

"Well, the Warp Star Mine's been having difficulty getting resources, so they put these doors here till they can make more." Kirby informed him.

Just then, a Cappy came bouncing toward them. "Oooh, I love mushrooms!" Rick cried as he inhaled it… or, at least, he thought he did.

"Hey! Give me back my cap!"

"Oh, THAT'S how they got their name…" Rick mused as he inhaled the rest of him.

(**A/N**: Oh, heavens, that was corny. But I couldn't resist! ^_^)

Rick licked his lips as he continued. "Maybe I won't have to worry about apples… although those would have been better…"

They raced, leaped, and swallowed as they continued through Big Forest, searching thoroughly for the Rainbow Drop. Rick ate everything in sight—and I mean EVERYTHING. They also came across more Floaties, but Rick, having had his fill, was more interested in a Flamer he saw trying to charge them. He swallowed it and copied its power, and soon Rick was a fire-breathing machine. "Look out baddies, or you're gonna get burned!" Rick shouted giddily. They came upon a door and found Scarfy, floating up and down next to another bag tied to the ceiling, very similar to Rick's…

Scarfy laughed, almost like a little girl. By nature Scarfy is a pretty happy guy. Until someone tries to suck him up… and to make matters worse, this one was obviously also under Dark Matter's spell.

"Hello, Kiiiirby. Your little bird friend is in that bag. I've been chosen to guard it. Too bad you can't inhale me without getting blasted," he said smugly.

"Hmm, well, then it's a good thing we have Burning Power. Isn't that right, Rick?" Kirby replied.

Rick simply nodded and burned the stunned Scarfy to an unidentifiable crisp. Coo's bag fell and he wiggled his way out as amusingly as Rick had—maybe even more so with his wings and feathers. ^_^

"Good gracious, how did they even get me in there in the first place?" Coo griped when he finally set himself loose.

"Oh, Coo! You're OK!" Kirby yelled, jumping down from Rick's shoulders.

"Hello Kirby, Rick. Yes, I'm fine—just a little ruffled from being cramped into that poor excuse for a potato bag."

"Hey! That's exactly what I called it!" Rick chimed in.

****

O_o "Right… Anyway," Coo began, "I need to inform you of something very important. While I was trapped here with Scarfy, someone else came—I'm not sure who—and told Scarfy to make sure that all of Dark Matter's minions in Big Forest have hoarded enough to eat so that they would not be affected by the famine. He said Dark Matter didn't want any of his loyal soldiers to be unable to destroy Kirby because of lack of nourishment... and also perhaps to Kirby's strength down as well." Coo flapped his wings excitedly. "Don't you see? Dark Matter is controlling it! He wants to starve us out, Kirby!"

Just then, they heard a low rumbling sound: Rick's stomach.

"For the love of Sparky! You CAN'T be hungry now, Rick—you just ate practically everyone in Big Forest!" Kirby cried.

****

O_O "I can't help it! I just have a large appetite. Don't EVEN tell me you're not hungry, too." Rick gave him a dubious glare. As if on cue, Kirby's stomach growled as well.

****

^_^; "OK, maybe a little…"

"Well," said Coo, "Before I came to get you guys in Grassland, I went apple-picking myself. They should be in my nest, hidden from anyone who doesn't know where the nest is," he said knowingly.

Rick's face lit up so brightly that Kirby had to put on sunglasses (**A/N**: I couldn't resist that, either—Kirby looks so cool in sunglasses ^_^). "Well, you know, Kirby, Coo knows this forest better than I do, and being able to fly, he should be quite useful, so I'm just gonna leave you two to defend Dreamland till later…" Rick told them. "…after I eat my fill of those delicious apples," he added under his breath.

Kirby laughed. "OK, Rick, I'll be able to eat while Coo is carrying me… and you'll be able to get your fill at his nest." Kirby said slyly.

****

o_O;; Rick blushed and giggled sheepishly. "Yeah, well, catch ya later!" he stuttered, and then he ran off.

"Ready to go, Coo?"

"I have been for the past five minutes. You guys really do talk too much, I'm afraid."

Kirby just snickered as Coo took him in his talons once again and they continued their journey. Since Rick had taken the Burning Power with him, Kirby was finally able to inhale all the baddies himself. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was till he started; he ate everything in sight just as Rick did! But what really caught their attention was a new ability enemy: Sir Kibble.

"Die, Kirby!" he yelled as he threw one of his razor-sharp cutters at the duo, hitting them.

"Whoa, that's sharp! That could be useful!" Kirby exclaimed after recovering from the pain. Coo flew right up to Sir Kibble for Kirby to inhale. He sucked up a very reluctant knight and gained the Cutter ability. Coo was now able to send out three dagger-like feathers in three different directions.

"Jeez, that's the most grief I've gotten from anyone so far—but it was worth it!" Kirby said, watching Coo's feathers slice through anything in their paths.

They entered the final door and proceeded to the next area of Big Woods. They found themselves in the canopy of the heart of the forest. Gordos, Waddle Dees, and Bronto Burts were everywhere, but Coo and Kirby easily flapped and cut their way through, gathering about two or three small stars in the process. 

Next they were face to face with a couple more Brontos, but, too late, they realized that they were on a kamikaze mission.

"Oh! Two hits at once! A warning would have been nice," Coo seethed, as Kirby sucked back up the Cutter Star that was lost after the hit. "If this keeps up you're going to be on your own again, Kirby."

"Well, we'll just have to be more alert, then."

Soon enough, they came upon more potion—guarded by Poppy Bros. Jr. riding on an apple, and a sneaky Waddle Dee that tried to hit them from behind. Fortunately, their encounter with the Bronto Burts taught them to expect everything from all sides, and they got the potion safely. They sliced through their way again, not even paying attention to what they were destroying lest they be destroyed first. They reached the final door, but it was enclosed in two Star Blocks with a floating Gordo in between. They destroyed a Star Block and let the Gordo float away before entering the door.

In the third, and last, area of Big Forest, our heroes were greeted by a slew of Bouncy Tys, Waddle Dees, and a new enemy (with a new ability), Spikey. It walked up to them until it was two feet away, then curled up into a needley ball.

"Ha! I bet Spikey would love to give us Needle Power, huh, Kirby?"

"Yes, look, he even stopped to let us inhale him…" he agreed as he released the Cutter star.

"Wait a minute! This isn't supposed to happen!" Spikey cried, but it was too late. Now as Coo held Kirby, sharp spines shot down from Kirby's body, making Kirby look like an upside-down porcupine—and making ground assaults useless. 

They jabbed through any oncoming enemies, and entered the next door. Waddle Dees carrying Floaties and Bouncy Tys were dropping from above, and when they flew upward, they had to watch for the Floaties that shot back up at them whenever a Waddle Dee let go.

They found another potion and entered the next door. It was obviously another Mini-Boss room since Jumpershoot was standing there, ready for battle, but they didn't know who was in the bag.

"Hmm, I'm supposed to be guarding you, bird," he said, startling Coo and Kirby. "But we found another little guy to replace you. If you defeat me, he'll heal you a little. But I never planned on losing," he added, quite seriously. It intimidated Kirby, just a little.

But Kirby, as we know, is a brave soul, and he wasn't gonna let a bunch of big talk bother him. "Whatever, Jumpershoot. Just begin the battle so we can keep going."

Jumpershoot laughed and began to spin rapidly toward them. Coo flew up and out of the way, and Kirby used his Needle Power to jab down at the enemy. But Jumpershoot jumped unexpectedly up, and he knocked the Needle star out of our heroes before spinning into it and destroying it. He laughed softly.

"You thought I was going to be a pushover like the others? Sorry, you were wrong," he told them, and then he threw his sandal at them.

"You attacking us with your shoe? What kind of attack is that? It'll hurt you more than it will hurt us!" Kirby cried as he inhaled it and shot it back out at Jumpershoot.

"Err, you may have hit me this time, but you're going down!" he cried, and spun toward them once again. Coo easily stayed out of the way, and Kirby continued to spit his sandals at him till he lay on the ground motionless. The bag fell from the ceiling nd a strange looking blob popped out. Kirby sucked him up and his health was restored. Then Kirby looked at Jumpershoot.

"Please don't inhale him, Kirby. He gives Parasol power, and, well, it makes me dizzy," Coo said sheepishly.

"OK, Coo. We probably won't need him anyway."

Little did he know how wrong he was…

And waiting for them were dozens of Spikeys… and they didn't look too happy.

"We heard how you taunted our friend before swallowing him to an early grave," one of the larger ones said. "You shall not get away with your dastardly deed! Revenge, comrades!" he shouted, and the entire Spikey population seemed to charge at Coo and Kirby.

****

O_O "Quick, Kirby, inhale and swallow! We must fight fire with fire—er…needle with needle!

Kirby didn't have time to think. He did just that, and Coo flew through the onslaught with a spiky ball at his talons. Most of the Spikeys were obliterated, but a few of the more experienced ones got to them. When the battle was over, Coo and Kirby were pretty beat up, but were still OK. They found another potion hiding in a crevice, so they were able to restore their health to a decent level before proceeding to the next part of the area.

Now they found themselves facing a huge hill covered with enemies looking to kill.

"I think this is the time to fly. What do you say, Coo?"

"I couldn't agree with you more."

They flew up and over until they reached the final door. But they had searched the entire island and didn't find the drop. Where could it be?

"Maybe when we flew over that hill we missed a door," suggested Coo.

"No, I was searching the ground the entire time, and I didn't see anything suspicious. It was all pretty out in the open.

So there they were, sitting in the very core of the islnd, using all their brainpower when they should have been fighting the next boss and going. Finally, Coo thought of something.

"Kirby, in the second door, remember how we were in the treetops?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, we never thought to see what was at the base of the trees, did we?"

O.O "Hey, that's right! Coo, we need to go bck! NOW!"

They rushed back into the door, and instead of flying straight through, they dropped straight down. Sure enough, there was a door hidden in some bushes. They went in and saw the beautiful drop—trapped underneath more Power Blocks, but they definitely weren't Parasol blocks.

"Oh man, what kind of power do they want now?" Kirby said, exasperated.

"Well, we could try Needle, since we have it," Coo replied.

To our heroes' great luck, the blocks gave way, and they were able to grab Rainbow Drop number two and exit the area to battle the next boss.

"Yes! Wow, that was lucky—who knows how many powers we could have tried to break those!" Kirby cried happily.

They entered the boss door to see who was guarding the next Warp Star, and they met up with what looked like a gigantic Spikey surrounded by an army of smaller versions of the boss.

"My name is Nruff," he said in a high, raspy voice. "I have been chosen to guard the Warp Star to Ripple Field. Do you think you can handle me, my children and…" He produced a bomb out of nowhere, "…my favorite toys?"

****

O_o "Kirby, re you sure we can handle this?" Coo asked tentatively.

"Aww, he doesn't look so tough." Kirby answered.

"Well, then," Nruff began, "let the battle begin. Go, Nelly!"

The small versions of Nruff, Nellys, popped out of the many doors of Nruff's hideout. Coo and Kirby spiked them, but they weren't able to hit Nruff—he was too fast, and had too mny bombs.

"Coo, I think we need to drop Needle."

"But then what will we use to defeat him?"

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

Coo dropped the star and Kirby inhaled it. When Nruff ws right in front of him, he spat it out like nobody's business.

"Direct hit!" Coo cried.

"You fools! Don't you realize you re now defenseless? With what, praytell, will you attack me now?"

Kirby got a sly look on his face. "You own weapons."

"But you can't inhale my bombs!"

"No, but I can inhale the Nellys!" Kirby shot bck, sucking up a Nelly to prove his point.

"No! Not my children! You shall face the dire consequences of your actions!"

Nruff charged at Coo and Kirby full force, and Kirby shot Nruff's own means of destruction bck at him before Coo lifted him up to safety. Much to Nruff's dismay, Kirby repeated the action and blasted him again. At first, Nruff's anger powered him, but he soon realized too late that he should have used his "toys" if he wanted any chance of winning, and with one last hit Nruff was out of commission. The Warp Star appeared from one of the doorways, and Kirby and Coo hopped on it to progress to their next destination: Ripple Field.

****

A/N: lol These chapters are SO long! I know, I know, they're dragged out, too. ~ If you have any suggestions to fix this dilemma, PLEASE, feel free to e-mail me or tell me in a review. Flames are also welcome—I'll use them to train my newborn Bulbasaur to be resistant against fire. ^___^

****

Next chapter: On to Ripple Field, the island of water. Could Kine possibly be trapped on this island? Will Kirby have as much trouble finding the Rainbow Drop? Did Rick ever find those apples? You have to read and review to find out! And remember, Venus loves you! ~venusAUR!~


	4. Between a Rocky and a Hard Place

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: After those first three chapters, I had these strange urges to eat apples. I wonder why… ^_~ Yay! Chapter four! Sorry this took so long—it's been a busy week. Personally, I like this level b/c it presented me with some of the toughest challenges—that blinkin' Rainbow Drop was tricky! Stupid dark rooms… and I just love Kine! O_o Uh, anyway, I actually had more reviewers! Thanks to CyborgVampire, abcxyz, and most definitely to DL7381 for the support!

****

Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Four: Between a Rocky and a Hard Place

Last time, Kirby and Rick found Coo in Big Forest. While Rick went to Coo's secret nest, Coo and Kirby flew off in search of the Rainbow Drop. After searching the entire island, they didn't find it—until they realized that there was one area that they DIDN'T search. Sure enough, they found it there, and then they were off to fight the next boss, Nruff, along with the Nellies and his bombs. Now they are on their way to Ripple Field for the next part of their adventure…

The Warpstar landed in the center of Ripple Field—of course, there wasn't really anywhere else for it to land since it was the only piece of solid earth on the entire island, which presented our buddy Coo with a problem…

"Kirby! How am I going to be able to help you if we're in _water_ half the time?! I can't swim well with these feathers!"

"Sorry, Coo. Either you're just going to have to do your best…" Kirby began, "…or let me do this on my own," he added sadly.

Coo immediately regretted what he said. He gave Kirby an apologetic look and replied, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Kirby. It was shameful of me to put myself over the safety of Dreamland. I'll do my very best to assist you in this mission."

****

^_^ "Thank you, Coo."

Coo took another look at the water all around them and sighed. "No problem, Kirby."

They entered the first door and began their new adventure on a new island. This particular area was relatively dry, so Coo didn't do much complaining. He simply flew over most of the enemies, and the exploding coconuts didn't faze him a bit. They even found another mysterious star behind a block. But he and Kirby spotted yet ANOTHER new enemy down below, and they decided to check it out.

"Look, Coo, I was right! It IS Rocky!"

"Well, what do you say we try out a new ability, hmm?"

Kirby smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Rocky overheard them and decided to roll over (Sorry, bad pun) their plans. He tucked in his feet and started bounding down the hill toward Coo and Kirby. Unfortunately, Rocky's plan blew up in his face when Kirby saw him and inhaled him as he was rolling down. "So much for that plan," Rocky thought before being swallowed and having his ability copied. ^_^

Coo and Kirby tried out their new power. Kirby became a heavy rock in Coo's talons, and Coo was completely unable to fly. But they found that when they fell that way from the sky, every enemy within a five-foot radius was obliterated, and they could easily roll downhill (just as Rocky did) unharmed. 

They collected another star on a high cliff before crushing Squishy the squid who was guarding the next door. Now Coo had some trouble.

"Oh dear, it's almost nothing BUT water!" Coo cried as he flapped wings, heavy with water, above the surface.

"But, Coo, we can't continue if we don't go back in—it's the only way to the nex—ow!"

Kirby looked around for the source of the pain he was feeling and saw Sir Kibble once again. "Ah HA!" they both shouted. "It's YOU!"

Sir Kibble laughed. "I know what you did to my second cousin once removed in Big Forest, and it is my duty to avenge him!" he cried as he threw a cutter.

Kirby wasn't impressed. Neither was Coo. Actually, Coo was pretty irritated. First he almost drowned himself trying to get him and Kirby above water, and now this sad excuse for a knight was slinging boomerangs at them. Coo flew over, looked Kibble in the eye, and released the Stone Ability star. "Suck him up, Kirby" was the last thing Sir Kibble heard. ^_^ They also grabbed the star piece he seemed to be guarding.

So once again Coo and Kirby had the marvelous Cutter ability. Unfortunately, the rigid, razor-sharp feathers wilted underwater, and they didn't do much damage past a few feet. Now Coo was growing exasperated.

"It's OK, Coo. We don't need them to go very far anyway. We only need to break that Star Block wall to keep going," Kirby reassured him.

Coo swam to the wall and destroyed the blocks easily (as long as he was close enough), and they snagged the star piece on the other side before coming upon another potion. This one, however, wasn't going to be as easy to get and soon our heroes found themselves in a bit of a disagreement…

"Kirby, there is a potion sitting on a block between two walls, and the only way to get it is to break the block."

"But if we do that it will fall into the spikes!"

"Well, we'll just have to grab it before it falls, then, huh?"

"We'll never make it!"

"Kirby, are you doubting my flying skills?"

"No, but…"

"OK, then. Now, watch and learn, Young Grasshopper." Kirby just gave him a look.

Coo positioned himself so that the cutter that went up would make a direct hit with the block. He shot out the feathers and flew as swiftly as he could right underneath the potion, snatching it from the clutches of the painful spikes. ^_^

"Wow, Coo. I'm sorry I questioned you."

"It's OK, Kirby. I understand."

They continued and were forced to return to the water and enter another door. This room was filled with Glunks just waiting to hit them with their dangerous bubbles (lol I have NO idea what it is they spit—I just like bubbles ^_^). Coo just slashed them all with the bladed feathers and left the room to reach the final door. 

"Hmm, no Rainbow Drop there… I think. Although with that experience in Big Forest, I'm not sure anymore," Kirby said.

"Well, we'll keep going and see what we find," Coo replied as he flew to Warpdoor number two.

"Oh, this is nice," Kirby said, looking down from an extremely high cliff. 

"Hmm, it's a good thing I can just fly down."

****

O_o "Oh yeah! That's right!" Kirby laughed. "I thought I'd have to fall the whole way!"

"But… you can float down, too."

"… All this is REALLY getting to me, Coo. Please take no notice."

Coo laughed as he shot a cutter at the Scarfy watching the scene and snatched the star behind him. They then began their descent, almost flying into a Waddle Dee drifting down with a Floaty the Drifter. They were also almost hit by Bouncy Tys that dropped from the sky out of nowhere.

"Blasted hyperactive springs," Kirby said. Coo got them with Cutter power, but he also broke a Star Block hiding another star piece. They took it before reaching the bottom and proceeding to the next area.

Here, there were pipes that produced a water current that forced swimmers to crash into some very dangerous spikes. "How are we going to get through without being impaled?" Coo wondered.

"I have an idea!" Kirby shouted. "Just swim as closely to the pipes as possible, and by the time it starts pushing you up, you'll be past the spikes!"

Coo tried it, and it worked. But they found more of the pipes that kept them from reaching some star pieces. Oh, and a door, too, which they obviously entered. ^_^

Wouldn't you know it? It was another miniboss room with another wiggling sack on the ceiling. This time, Coo and Kirby had to defeat Master Green, a giant, harpoon throwing, electric shocking jellyfish. He had a reputation to intimidate and discourage enemies with his eloquent taunting.

"Ah, I was wondering how long it would take you to reach me, my friends," Master Green said in a slithery voice. "I expected you much sooner. Have you lost your touch, Kirby?"

"You don't scare me, Green. Coo and I will defeat you, no matter what you say!"

***Tsk*** "You need a friend to help you now? You ARE losing it, aren't you, you pink powder puff!" He laughed maniacally and began to spin as Jumpershoot did. Only Master Green didn't charge at Kirby; he spun into such a frenzy, sparks began flying everywhere, and one of them hit our heroes, shocking the Cutter star (and everything else ^_~) out of them.

"YIPES!!!"

"Ugh… Kirby! The Cutter star! Suck up the Cutter star!" But it was too late. With a low, guttural laugh, Master Green held up the Cutter star.

"Hmm, are you looking for this? OK, then you can have it. But it won't give you your precious ability now!" he cried as he sparked it into the shape of a harpoon. "HERE!" He threw the harpoon directly at them. Coo flew up to avoid it, but it knicked Kirby as it whizzed by.

"Kirby!"

"I'm OK, Coo. It's just a scratch. Look out!"

Coo looked up and saw another star coming directly at him from Master Green. Kirby instinctively inhaled it and spit it back at the jellyfish before anyone knew what was going on.

"Whoa! What just happened?"

"HA! Coo, I know how to destroy Green!"

"Ow! Oh, you FOOL! You will not get away with that!" Stubbornly, he threw another star, determined to hit Kirby without getting hit himself. Of course, Kirby just sucked it up and spit it back at him.

"Sheesh, you'd think he wouldn't send out the means of his own destruction," Coo whispered.

"SH! If he gets the idea, he won't send them out anymore and we'll have nothing to work with!"

Recovering from his injury, Master Green created yet another star. "I SHALL hit you with a star, Kirby, if it's the last thing I do!" He threw it and Kirby just inhaled and spat. Master Green was down.

"Hmm, what do you know? It WAS the last thing he did… well, almost. He didn't quite hit us," Coo slyly mused. Kirby swallowed Master Green and gained a new ability: Spark. Kirby became a ball of energy that sent a single lightning bolt straight down to the ground.

The bag fell down and with more difficulty than Coo and Rick combined (he only has those little fins, after all), Kine wriggled himself free of the sack.

"Oh! Kirby! Coo! It's you!" Kine cried. "Hey, that rhymes," he giggled to himself.

Kirby overheard him and giggled as well. "Oh, Kine, it's good to see you! Coo and I were having a bit of… trouble… in the water."

"More like a catastrophe!" Coo corrected. "I can't swim well underwater with these feathers, and any abilities I had were almost useless."

"Well, I can help you, Kirby. With me, any powers you have will be more useful underwater, and you'll be able to inhale enemies underwater without turning yourself into a water balloon," Kine said.

Coo and Kirby both chuckled this time. "Good idea, Kine," replied Coo. "Since you'll probably be more useful on this island of water, I'll let you and Kirby go while I check out what's going on and unearth my skills in espionage."

"Es-spinach?"

"No, Kine—spying. I'm going to go spying on the enemy and try to help you guys out."

"Oh, I knew that."

Coo laughed before going on his way.

"Wait! Coo! Don't forget about the water pipes!" But Coo had already gone.

"I hope Coo doesn't get hurt," Kine fretted.

"Don't worry, he'll be OK," Kirby assured him as he went into Kine's mouth (**A/N** **to non-KDL2-players:** Kine's a fish with itty-bitty fins and a big mouth. Where else is Kirby gonna go? ^_~).

Kine and Kirby left the room and continued on their way, but not before going back to those pipes and grabbing those four star pieces.

"Wow, Kine, you can swim against the current!" Kine just blushed and beamed.

Using Spark power light bulbs to blast away the Blippers, Sir Slippys, and Glunks trying to block them, our heroes entered the next door.

They entered pitch-blackness. But Kirby had an idea. "Kine! Use Spark power and create a light bulb to light this place up."

"Oh, good idea Kirby!"

Kine did just that and they were able to see everything in this once dark room—including a secret door. They went inside and found five more star pieces—and seven stars again began to glow and give Kine and Kirby the strange rejuvenation once again.

"Cool! Another life!"

"Huh? Kine, what are you talking about? Do you know what the stars are doing?"

"Sure! I heard Master Green talking about it to Jumpershoot after they trapped Rick at Grassland and Coo at Big Forest. They were trying to figure out what the stars were for, so I told them about a legend I heard. It says that whenever the Rainbow Drops are in trouble, tiny stars appear to aid those who are determined to save the Drops. After seven are collected, they become another chance at life—like a guardian." Kine's face fell. "But they just laughed at me and said I was nothing but a dumb, naive fish with a three-minute memory span."

"That's not true, Kine. Your memory span is at least ten minutes."

"Kirby!"

"Haha, just kidding, Kine. You have an awesome memory, obviously, to remember that legend. And it's a good thing, too, because now I know what the stars are doing for us."

"You mean you believe me?"

"Of course, Kine." Kine blushed and beamed again.

"One question, though."

"Shoot."

"How come you knew that, but you didn't know about the Rainbow Sword?"

"Hmm, I must've fallen asleep when Grampa told me that one—I was just a little fry." Kirby just sighed.

They went back out and used Kine's light bulbs to see their way to the end, and they found themselves back out in the open. They Sparked their way past the Sir Slippys and exploding coconuts (**A/N**: I HATE THOSE THINGS!!) to the final door.

__

Well, it's off to door number three—I sure hope the Rainbow Drop is here, Kirby thought to himself.

This area didn't start off too strangely—more water, more land bars, and more enemies than they wanted to deal with. But they easily shocked their way through and went to the next stage.

They found themselves in a pool of water, a Flamer looming ominously above them. But, in Flamer's eagerness to attack them, he went into the water and soaked himself, rendering him harmless. Kirby and Kine laughed as they jumped out of the water onto dry land.

In front of them were several pipes embedded into the ground. The weird thing, though, was that these pipes were inhabited by snakelike creatures called Elieels. Fortunately, all they did was pop out and wiggle their fins, so Kine just sent light bulbs through them whenever they appeared.

"Hey, what's that up ahead?" Kirby suddenly asked.

Kine looked and saw what looked like another pool of water. But a closer look told our heroes that it was much deeper than that.

"Hey! Maybe the Rainbow Drop is down there!" Kine excitedly suggested.

They jumped in and were shocked to find more of the water pipes trying to push them along in a ring. Kine fought the current, finding two more stars along the sides past some Star Blocks and Blippers, but began fighting even more when Kirby noticed a door right in the path of more pipes that were out of the current of the ring.

Kine finally managed to get to the door and they went inside. This room was similar to the other secret room they had found; it was dark and contained five star pieces. (**A/N:** I'm not going to say whenever they get more star pieces or lives unless it's in an unusual place that someone might not know about because it's getting too hard to keep track. Just keep in mind that they're always finding stars and by the time they reach the end of Dark Castle, they'll have about 60 or 70 lives. Thanks! ^_^;;) This time, however, there was yet another secret door to their left (right to a player) as they lit up the room! They leaped up into it (since it was a little off the ground) and lo and behold, it was the Rainbow Drop!

They excitedly jumped up and over to the platform where it was sitting, but it was again blocked by Power Blocks… that weren't broken with Spark power.

"Oh, the humanity…" Kirby whined dejectedly.

"Well, we'll just have to find another power, then, Kirby."

***Sigh*** "OK, we'll leave and see what we can find."

They left and returned to the area with the Elieel, continuing toward the door to the next stage. But here they found another Rocky, just sitting on a Star Block above the door.

Kine immediately released the Spark star and Kirby swallowed Rocky before he could jump off and kill himself in the water. Kirby became a stone inside of Kine, so Kine was unable to go anywhere. But, like before, Kine could easily roll downhill unharmed. They returned to the Rainbow Drop room—although they had a bit of difficulty going through the door since they couldn't see anything… ^_^;

They returned to the Power Blocks, and crashed through them with Stone power, retrieving the Rainbow Drop trapped inside.

"Yes! Three down, four to go," Kirby shouted.

Once again and for the last time (thank goodness), they left the room and went on their way to the next door.

They met up with their worst nightmare. The whole stage was nothing but the water pipes that had nothing better to do than to push our heroes into Sir Slippys waiting at every turn of the path!

"Um, Kirby? I think now would be a good time to turn to stone," Kine urgently suggested as he fought the current.

"What good'll that do?"

"Well, I think as long as these pipes keep us moving you won't change back and we'll just destroy the Slippys along the way," Kine explained.

"Will the pipes keep us moving?"

"Um, I… well, I don't really know."

"Oh, great. ***Sigh*** OK, I'll try."

They used the Stone ability and, luckily, the pipes did move them along (although very slowly when they were going up), crashing into every Sir Slippy in their path. They also managed to snag a potion at the halfway point. Eventually the currents shoved them to the end of the current—and the final door.

"Oh man, THAT was more trouble than it was worth!" Kirby yelled.

"We DO still have to beat the boss, though, Kirby."

****

O_o "Oh good Gordo…" Kirby sighed as they left the stage and approached the Boss door. They both took a deep breath and gulped before entering. They appeared in a narrow but long underwater cavern.

****

¬_O "Oh… my…"

They were face to face with the ugliest fish that ever seemed to exist. It had spikes covering its body, little spiky fins, two HUGE eyes, sharp teeth, and what looked like a blinking fishing pole on top of its head. Kine released the Stone star and Kirby inhaled it, just in case. They knew Stone wouldn't do much good here.

"Glup… well, here you are," Sweet Stuff said in his deep, gargly voice. "I was hoping I'd have the pleasure of annihilating you." With that, he sent out two dagger-like stars.

Kirby shot out the Stone star at Sweet Stuff, hitting him, but the sharp stars also hit Kirby and Kine.

"Ouch! Oh, those hurt," Kine said as Kirby saw his bleeding fin.

"Don't give up, Kine! We'll beat him."

Sweet Stuff's angler glowed and the biggest cutters either of them had ever seen came speeding toward them. Kine dodged them as best as he could with his injury, and they went past without causing harm. Out of nowhere, a pair of Squishys also came pumping toward them, but Kirby simply inhaled them and spat them back out at Sweet Stuff.

"Glurp… Ha! It will take more than that to defeat me! Gulerp," he told them, and sent out more cutter stars.

This time, Kine had an idea. "Kirby, try sucking them up!"

"Are you nuts? I'll be sliced inside out!"

"No you won't! You have a stomach of steel, remember?"

****

^_^; "Oh yeah."

Kirby inhaled a star, still slightly expecting to be cut in half, but Kine was right; the stars didn't hurt him. He shot it back out at Sweet Stuff, who was getting ready for another cutter attack.

"You will not defeat me that easily!" he cried, and he started a continuous assault that Kine JUST BARELY avoided.

"Oh, he nicked me again!"

"It's OK, Kine, I think we only need to hit him a couple more times." He sucked up another star and spat it back at the giant fish. But now, instead of Squishys or stars, they were attacked by Gordos!

"AAH! We DEFINITELY can't inhale those!" Kine did his best to avoid them again, but he was growing weary.

"Hold on, Kine, just one more hit!"

"Take… gloop…THIS!" Sweet Stuff cried as more cutter stars were sent out. Kirby inhaled one and hit the boss with it, and Sweet Stuff would fight no more. He was finally out of Dark Matter's spell.

"Oh, we did it, Kine!"

"Thank goodness—I'm pretty sure I need a Band-Aid!!"

Kirby laughed. "Don't worry, Kine, I'm sure we'll find a potion on Iceberg," he told Kine as the Warpstar appeared from the depths of the cavern. They swam to the Warpstar and proceeded on their quest to save Dreamland.

"I hope we dry off before we get there," Kine told Kirby.

"Why's that?"

"Well, if we're still wet, then we'll probably freeze or catch pneumonia or something."

Kirby giggled again as they soared off to the next destination: Iceberg, the Island of Ice.

****

Next chapter: The mission continues on Iceberg. What new surprises await our friends? Will they meet up with Coo and see what he has discovered? Will we ever see Rick again? And WILL they freeze or catch pneumonia? (**Kine:** Hey! I was being serious!** Me:** So was I. **Kine:** O_o) You have to read and review to find out!

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A/N: lol I would like to apologize for the feeble attempts at humor and length of this chapter, which is… 25 pages!? Oh gosh! And Iceberg has FOUR stages! This is gonna be one long story, folks. I hope I don't bore you to death. ~ Please feel free to e-mail me or tell me in a review how to make these chapters shorter—and better! ^_^;; Flames are also welcome—I'll use them to train my baby Grass-types to be resistant against fire. ^_^ And remember, Venus loves you! {VEnusaur! (^o__o^)}


	5. Burning DesirePart 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

****

A/N: You know what? I took a close look at my KDL2 cartridge, and it's actually three words! Therefore, from now on I will say Kirby's Dream Land, OK? OK, good, now that that's off my chest, it's on to Chapter Five!! Thanks to CyborgVampire, abcxyz, and DestinyLord7381 for the support!! You are all such dolls! ^_^-

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Five: Burning Desire

Last time, after a bit of complaint from Coo, our heroes traversed the Island of Water, Ripple Field, to find Kine and gather Rainbow Drop Numero Tres. After defeating a new enemy and gaining a new power—Spark—Kine joined Kirby on his crucial mission to save Dream Land. They found the Drop after much inconvenient running around trying to find a hidden door and using different abilities, and the battle with the boss was actually a bit bloody! Poor Kine… maybe I should have upped the censor… nah. ^_^ But they defeated the hideous Sweet Stuff, and now they are on their way to the next island: Iceberg, the Island of Ice…

Kirby and Kine jumped off the Warpstar to the freezing ground below. Having just left a tropical, sunny paradise, they had a tough time adjusting to the sharply contrasting frigid climate of Iceberg. And Kine was STILL afraid he'd get sick… ^^;;

"Kine, you're a fish. You THRIVE in cold water. How the heck are you going to catch pneumonia?" Kirby finally reasoned.

Kine looked at Kirby, then considered for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I guess you're right… but I could still freeze whenever I jump out of the water."

"Well, as long as you keep moving, you won't have a chance to freeze."

"That's easy for you to say. Here I am freezing to death while you're protected from the elements in my mouth."

"Kine, do you have any idea how weird that sounded?"

"Um, yes, and that's why I just decided to drop the subject," Kine replied as he entered the first door.

Snow. Cold. Ice. That was what greeted them as Kine slipped and slid his way through the area in search of the Drop. And the first enemy they encountered was a tear-shaped creature that was hovering above the ground with a propeller on its head. It appeared to be asleep.

"Aww, it's cute. What is it?" Kine asked. He silently approached the enemy. Suddenly, it awoke with an evil cackle, and its face grew dark and evil, FAR from the cute expression it had just moments ago.

"Must destroy the allies of the meddling Kirby!"

O_o;; "Uh, Kirby, would that include me?"

"Yes, Kine, I'm afraid it would."

"Oh… AAAHH!! You must suck it up before it causes pain!!"

Kirby tried to inhale the Jekyl/Hyde wannabe. There was just one problem…

"It can't be inhaled!! It just freezes where it is!!" Kine's eyes went wide. Then he panicked and tried to run past it. Unfortunately, he only slipped on the ice in his haste while the terror that was the Propeller Bomb came closer and closer until…

"Noooo!! Kiiiiiirrrrrrrbyyyyyyyyyy!!!!…" And with that, Kine suddenly disappeared.

Without knowing what hit him, Kirby opened his eyes to find himself alone, in the cold, next to a now happy Propeller Bomb that seemed to have no recollection of what it just did.

Kirby then realized that this enemy was like no other, and, after inhaling the clueless baddie, solemnly and vengefully vowed never, EVER to let a Propeller Bomb go unpunished.

Kirby dutifully continued on his journey, inhaling an enemy that appeared on Ripple Field (but I somehow forgot to mention…^^;), Sparky, for Spark power (obviously). Now he could curl up into a ball and shoot a shower of sparks that electrocuted any enemy that came too close. Eventually he came to a bridge that had a Flamer contained in a cage of Star Blocks, guarded by more of the annoying Bouncy Ty. He easily sparked the Bouncy Ty and released the star to get Burning Power from the trapped Flamer—it was cold and the Burning ability warmed him up QUITE well.

Underneath the bridge he noticed a door. Of course he went inside to see what he could find—which was another _extremely_ familiar sack… behind a cage of Power Blocks that looked like ice cubes. Rick suddenly popped out and tried to get to Kirby through the translucent blocks.

-_-;; "Oh man, HOW am I gonna get past…" he trailed off. Ice cubes? Of course!

He started up his power and charged right through the blocks as they melted at his touch. And once again, he joined up with our good friend, Rick.

"Wow, I thought I'd never see you again!" Rick cried through happy tears.

"What happened, Rick? How'd you get captured again?"

"Let's just say that those Bronto Burts can go anywhere and everywhere…"

"They found you in Coo's nest too stuffed with apples to get away, didn't they?"

"NO! No, well, I mean, sorta… I guess I was… _kind_ of slow… um… yeah…" he finished sheepishly.

"Rick, you are something else… although scientists haven't been able to determine what yet…"

"Har har, very funny, Kirby." Kirby laughed and patted him on the head for good measure.

They left the room and were presented immediately with some strange blocks in the ground. Rick tapped one with his foot and it disintegrated instantly!

"Note to self—do NOT stand still on the disappearing blocks…" Rick muttered to himself. They jumped over the deadly bricks and continued their icy journey. Fortunately Rick's fur kept him and Kirby warm, and also prevented him from slipping on the ice. But soon they were face to face with a deadly enemy once again…

"Rick! Shh, be careful! You see that thing hovering over there?"

"Yeah…"

"If it touches you you'll disappear! It's already happened to Kine!"

"It's OK, Kirby, it's just a Propeller Bomb. I can handle it," Rick said with a bit of arrogance in his voice.

"But Kine—"

"I know what they do—I heard Efreeti talking about it to Jumpershoot in Grassland."

"What was Jumpershoot doing in Grassland?"

"I dunno—I guess it was when Scarfy was guarding Coo, but he was talking about them. He said that for some reason they absorbed more of the evil in Matter's spell, so they do more damage, instantly transporting us to another miniboss room. He said there was one in Big Forest—didn't you see it?"

"No—but then again, Coo and I didn't see the Rainbow Drop at first, either. I guess we were lucky."

"Well, anyway, if you hit them enough times with a special ability, they explode—and…" he added quietly, "… if you hit them with Ice Power, they turn into ice cubes at once."

"Where can we get that?" Rick just shook his head; he didn't know.

By now, the Propeller Bomb had been awakened by Rick's explanation, and it turned into the monster it was trained to be and charged straight for them!

"Rick, it's coming!" Rick turned around, and when the Propeller was one foot in front of him, he let loose a firebreath assault. The enemy stopped and tried to get past the flames, but it couldn't. After a few seconds, it blew up, as Rick had predicted.

"Whew, I'm glad to see they aren't invincible…" Kirby breathed. They continued on to the next door that was situated next to a Shotzo—little indestructible cannons that shot painful cannonballs. But it took a while to reload, so Rick and Kirby just passed through the door right after it fired.

They found themselves on an icy plain, and all over this plain were little penguins called Master Pengy—little penguins that spat out ice…

"Kirby! I think they might give the Ice Ability!" Rick cried as he released the Burning star.

Rick walked up to one, and right before it set loose an ice beam, he sucked it up. Sure enough, they now had the Ice Ability. Rick would curl up into a ball while an aura of snow surrounded him, freezing anything that touched it. It was similar to Kirby's Spark Power.

They continued along the plain, turning Pengys into ice cubes and sliding them into other Pengys, destroying them. They came to the door, which was blocked by Sir Kibble. He became an ice cube, too. ^_^

Now they were in another miniboss room, but there was no bag this time. Our heroes were now face-to-face with Blocky, a cube-shaped enemy that loved to charge and fall on people with his rock-hard body. He was also known for not being very smart.

"Haha!! Me gonna get you!" With that he began his attacks.

But every time he did, he would send out pieces of rock. Kirby realized that it would be best to inhale these pieces of stone to use as weapons, so Rick released the Ice star (as much as he didn't want to) and used it to hurt Blocky before using the rocks that rolled their way after one of his assaults.

"Oooh, ouchies…" Blocky said before he fell to the ground with a loud "thud." Rick inhaled him and gained the Stone Ability. Rick turned into a giant boulder while Kirby stood on top and rolled him around. Nothing that was in Rick's path survived.

They entered the door that appeared after they defeated the hard-headed enemy, and saw that they were on a platform with Rocky trying to pound them from a Star Block above. Rick walked to the edge of the platform and looked down… not a good idea. Rick paled.

"Kirby! We must be hundreds of feet up!"

"Yes, I can see that."

"Well, now what??"

"You become a rock… and we roll off the ledge."

****

O-o "Are you flippin' crazy?!"

"Rick! It'll be OK—you're gonna be a _rock_, remember?"

"Oh, well, I guess it's worth a try."

He did so and Kirby rolled them off. They fell, crushing all enemies in their path that were on other platforms. Eventually they rolled to the bottom where the final door was waiting.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked," Rick said as they entered the next area.

"Whoa!!" they both cried. Rick and Kirby were being blown forward by a very strong wind.

"Where is Coo when you need him??" Kirby yelled.

They were blown toward enemies, blocks, and many other obstacles—but when they saw the chasm and the flimsy pillar that was their only chance of making it across… well, needless to say they were a bit worried…

"Kirby, I don't think I can make it!"

"Sure you can! Just jump on the pillar and jump right off—the wind'll carry you!"

Rick quickly approached the gap, and jumped for the pillar. His nimble agility allowed him to jump onto the pillar and jump back off without harm. They continued on, jumping over enemies rather than rolling over them, until they approached two doors. They couldn't enter the one on the left because they were pushed away by the wind, so they went into the one on the right.

Rick and Kirby were on a very tiny platform about 6 feet above the floor, just big enough for Rick to stand on. Right across from them on another small platform was yet another sack. And right beneath them was none other than Jumpershoot.

"What? The Propeller Bombs didn't finish you off? Well, I guess I'll have to do it myself, then," Jumpershoot sneered. He began his spinning attack right at our heroes!

"Kirby, help me roll over him," Rick suggested.

"No, I don't think that will work. He could just jump up and hit me!"

"Well, then, I'll just have to hit him with the star." He released it, inhaled it, and shot it at Jumpershoot; it hit dead-on.

"Oooh, don't think you'll get away with that!" He used his amusing attack of throwing a sandal at them, and began to spin once again. Rick inhaled the sandals and shot them back out while avoiding Jumpershoot's dizzying assaults. Soon enough, he went down, and Rick gained Parasol Power again.

Coo flew out of the bag and glided down towards Kirby. "I guess I shouldn't have tried swimming against the pipes," he said.

"I take it they captured you when you were trapped in one?" Kirby asked.

****

*Sigh* "I'm afraid so. Owls were just not built for the water," Coo replied.

"No, but you _were_ built for the air. I need you to fly against the wind outside," Kirby explained.

"Well, how am _I_ supposed to get out of here?" Rick asked.

"Do you really want to leave?" Kirby shot back.

"I can't stay here! How am I gonna help you if I'm trapped in this room?"

"Perhaps I can be of service," Coo suddenly suggested. He flew back to the platform with the bag and opened a hidden door. "Jumpershoot couldn't go against the wind, either, so he had to bring me in here this way."

"How did you know that if you were trapped in that bag?" Coo lifted up the bag to show them a hole.

"Sometimes it's good to be a bird of prey," he said, pointing to his sharp beak.

"Oh, thanks, Coo! That's twice you've helped me out!" Rick cried gratefully.

"No problem. We must work together. Promise that you'll be careful?" Rick vigorously nodded and went through the trap door. Coo turned to Kirby. "Shall we be going?" he inquired.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

They left and Coo easily flew to the other door. Coo had to fly up against several icicles that tried to fall on them. Coo simply used Parasol to shatter them, even though by the time they reached the next door he was awfully dizzy. ^_^;;

He and Kirby entered it, and Coo found that he would have to become dizzy again to break through the Star Blocks that filled the halls. He did so, and they came to a door. Since they noticed that the next halls were filled with Ice Power Blocks, they decided to enter in search of Burning Power.

The room was filled with almost every power they had encountered—including Burning. Flamer was trapped in a case just waiting to be inhaled. Coo released the Parasol star and sucked him up—but not before Sir Kibble, who was in the case across from Flamer, hit them with a cutter.

"Sir Kibble, I've officially made you my archenemy," Coo told him, remembering the problems he had caused in Ripple Field. Coo threatened him by using the ability towards him, even though he couldn't break the block. Coo could do a fiery charge like Kirby, but in a downward direction.

They left and noticed that there were also Ice Blocks beneath them. Coo used his power to go down through them to the right (his right). He was ecstatic to find a new item—a 1Up.

"Coo, what does it do?"

"Its power is equal to that of seven of those stars—so it will give us the same strange rejuvenation."

"Man, why don't I know all this?"

"Because you weren't kidnapped by the ones who knew what these items do."

"Oh… yeah."

They grabbed it, and they did feel the tingly long-term feeling. Coo also tried going the other way, but they could see a sleeping Propeller Bomb through the ice, and, after Kirby told Coo about it, they decided to continue through the halls to the final door.

__

Still no sign of the Drop. Where could it be? Kirby thought to himself.

They entered the third door and proceeded on their mission. They came across Rocky, Master Pengy, Sparky, Broom Hatters, and more of the sharp icicles. Coo simply burned through them all till he came to a door.

"Oh boy," said Coo. "_Another_ miniboss."

Coo and Kirby were forced to battle Mr. Frosty, a walrus-like enemy who created ice blocks as his weapons.

"I shall freeze you, Kirby—you will not win!" He made an ice block and through it at them. Coo melted it and charged Mr. Frosty with his fiery attack. The miniboss was not pleased.

"AAHH! I HATE the heat!! Oh, you're asking for it!!" He then charged them, kicking up freezing dust. But Coo kept charging him with his flaming assault, and soon enough Mr. Frosty was no longer so frosty…

"Cool, Ice Power," said Kirby. Coo released the star and swallowed the extra-crispy walrus. Kirby could shoot an ice beam in any direction he pleased. Unfortunately, Coo couldn't fly at the same time, and floated down as Kirby tried out this ability.

Kine finally came out of the sack, and hopped down to his friends below.

"KINE!! You're OK!!" Kirby yelled, and he gave his pal a big hug.

"Yep, after that run-in with the Propeller, I wound up here—how, though, I'll never know…" Kirby laughed. Kine looked at Coo.

"Coo, I'm going to warn you now: there is almost nothing but cold water through that door," Kine said as he pointed a fin at the newly formed exit.

"Well, then I'd better go while you and Kirby progress—you'd be MUCH better in the water. I'll just have to go the way I came."

"OK, but try not to get captured this time, please?" Kirby told him. Coo laughed and said he'd try before leaving.

Kine and Kirby entered the door to the watery area that awaited them. Kine almost lost his ability a few times to a couple of overaggressive Blippers, but soon found a maxim tomato and a star after breaking through some Star Blocks with Ice Power. He had the same aura as Rick, but he could still swim and move while using it. Unfortunately, he became a giant ice cube when he used it for too long.

"Kine, maybe you should only use Ice for short periods of time."

"G-g-good idea, K-K-Kirby," he shivered. He and Kirby arrived at the next door and wound up right next to another Propeller Bomb!

"Kirby… what do I do now??" Kine whispered.

"Just freeze it—they can't hurt you encased in ice."

Kine gulped and jumped over a chasm straight toward it while using his ability. The Propeller became an ice cube instantly, as Kirby predicted. But as Kine landed on the next plateau, he slipped and slid straight for the edge!

"Kine, quick, turn around! We're going to fall off!!" Kine tried to do as Kirby said, but it was too late—he teetered precariously at the edge… and fell…

To be continued…

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Next chapter: Oh no!! What will happen to our heroes now? Will they survive? Will they find a stray tree branch to grab onto? Could Kine even grab it if he had the chance? Their journey can't end now!! Or can it…? You have to read and review to find out!! AAAAHAHAHAHA!!!

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A/N: I've decided to split the last four levels into two chapters each—I can't take the length! I'm only a little more than halfway through this level and it's already 21 pages HTML!! That, and I felt bad for not posting something for so long—but I've had a busy week… church festivals, unexpected company, piano lessons—it's too much! lol And this is the _perfect_ place for a cliffhanger! I'm so evil… even though you all probably know what happens… oh well. ^_^ But don't worry—I'll have the next part by tomorrow—I might even post it later today if I get good reviews. ^_^ Although flames are also welcome—I'll use them to make my baby Grass-types resistant against fire. ^_^ And remember, Venus loves you! {VEnusaur! (^o__o^)}


	6. Burning DesirePart 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: Whoo hoo! The next part! I WOULD have had this up several days ago had not a certain sister of mine hogged the blinkin' computer the whole time… that and ff.net was down for, what, three days?? o But thank you abcxyz and DestinyLord7381 for _wonderful_ reviews that came so soon! And DL7381—yes, that is what the numbers stand for… *sheepish grin* You're all TOO sweet! ^_^-

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Six: Burning Desire-Part Two

Last time, Kirby and friends began their journey on the Island of Ice, and met up with much of the usual—and a bit of the unusual. A new and more dangerous enemy, the Propeller Bomb, transported Kine back to a miniboss room, leaving Kirby to fend for himself as he continued his mission. A new ability was also discovered: Ice. But the greatest danger of all is facing our heroes now—will Kine and Kirby survive falling off a cliff…?

****

Kine gulped and jumped over a chasm straight toward it while using his ability. The Propeller became an ice cube instantly, as Kirby predicted. But as Kine landed on the next plateau, he slipped and slid straight for the edge!

"Kine, quick, turn around! We're going to fall off!!" Kine tried to do as Kirby said, but it was too late—he teetered precariously at the edge… and fell…

They screamed the entire way down. There was nothing else to do. The ground came up faster and faster. Our friends were sure this was the end…

"Kine, I'm sorry for any times I made fun of you and the time I took your plastic shovel and buried it when we were kids!!" Kirby yelled quickly through tears as ominously approached them.

Kine was crying as well. "It's OK, Kirby, I was glad to be your friend, and I'll mis—wait, YOU took my shovel?!"

But Kirby could not reply—they were only seconds from impact. They shut their eyes tightly and…

****

FLASH!

A bright light suddenly surrounded them. They felt no pain, yet they knew that they had hit the ground. Kirby and Kine opened their eyes and were amazed to find that they were back at the start of the area where the Propeller was. Suddenly, seven of the tiny stars emerged from the light around them and formed the number "5" before they disappeared.

Well, Kirby and Kine just stood there and stared at the space where the stars created the mysterious number for about ten minutes. Then Kine's face lit up with a memory from his childhood…

"Kirby! Do you realize what just happened???"

"No… should I?"

"We were given an extra life!!"

Kirby gasped. "You mean like what you were talking about earlier?"

"Yeah! The guardian stars are giving us another chance… and I think that "5" meant that we have five more!" Kine almost slipped off the edge again in his excitement.

"Kine! Calm down! Let's not waste our chances!" Kine stopped bouncing around.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry… hey! But we don't have Ice Power anymore!"

"Well, maybe it's the stars' way of telling us that it had better not happen again," suggested Kirby.

"But, how are we going to get past that thing again?" Kine asked, referring to the Propeller Bomb that had magically reappeared.

"I have an idea. Kine, go wake it up." Kine's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"KIRBY! Are you CRAZY?? Last time we tried that I woke up with burlap in my mouth!!"

"We have a better idea of how to deal with them now, Kine. Just trust me."

Kine was near tears, but he did trust Kirby, and he knew that Kirby's plan would work—whatever it was.

He carefully approached the minion, and when it woke up and floated toward them, Kirby yelled, "Jump!"

Kine did just that, and the Propeller Bomb whizzed by underneath them. It turned around and continued its pursuit. But by this time Kine and Kirby had gone forward and found another Master Pengy. They swallowed it before the penguin even had a chance to protest and turned to face the Propeller. It was only feet away, and closing in fast.

"Ha! You can't beat us now you poor excuse for a beanie! Switch on the ice, Kine!"

Kine used the ability when the tear-drop shaped enemy was but inches away—and it became encased in ice.

Sighing with relief, our heroes continued their journey to the final door, freezing everything (including another Propeller Bomb) that stood in their way. Disintegrating blocks surrounded the door, and a Flamer guarded it as well. They froze the fiery sentinel and quickly entered the door before the block had a chance to collapse.

__

If we don't find the Drop in here, then I have NO clue where to look, Kirby anxiously thought to himself.

They entered the fourth (and last) door of Iceberg, and found themselves up against Efreeti _again_.

"Don't you ever knock?" Efreeti asked with a sly sneer, thinking he was funny.

"Don't you ever die?" Kirby shot back. "We defeated you already!"

Efreeti was not pleased with Kirby's response, but decided to let it slide… for now. "Well, it won't be so easy this time—I'll easily melt you both with my new and improved Comet Charge!"

"You gave your lame attack a name?"

"Insolent puffball! I'll show you! You won't free your friend this time—whichever stupid creature it is."

This caught Kirby off-guard. "What do you mean…?"

Efreeti laughed. "Lord Dark Matter only told me to guard him—he didn't tell me who it was."

Kirby was becoming aggravated. "It doesn't matter—one of my friends is in there and I'm going to free him! Kine, I need the Ice Star."

"Aw, but I like this power…"

"Kine, we won't be able to do much damage if he has to be two inches away for us to hurt him!"

"Oh, OK…" He released the star and Kirby inhaled it. Just as sent it into the miniboss, Efreeti fired into the air.

"I told you it was new and improved!" he cried triumphantly as the star flew past him. Efreeti came burning back down, creating a star from the hard impact. Kirby saw this and knew what to do.

"Kine, we have to charge at him full speed!"

Kine was getting the hang of Kirby's ideas. He slit his eyes and smiled. "OK, Kirby. We're gonna get you, Efreeti!!" And he sped toward the miniboss. Just as our friends expected, Efreeti stormed into the air again as Kine slipped by. But just as he returned to the ground, Kirby sucked up the star and shot it back at him before Efreeti could fly up again.

"Oh, so you have found a way around, have you? Ha! Try to find a way around this," he shouted. He went back to his old attack—and blazed right toward Kirby and Kine!

"Let me guess… jump?" Kine asked.

"Yep, you got it."

Kine jumped over Efreeti, and the flaming enemy created two stars: one upon hitting the wall, and one upon hitting the ground. Kirby sucked both up at once, and did twice the damage when he hit Efreeti, knocking the annoying fireball out.

Kirby swallowed him and gained Burning Power, allowing Kine to spit giant fireballs. Just as he was trying out his new power, the sack opened to reveal something new…

"Hello, friends," the new creature said. It was obviously female since she had a bow on her head. And she had a translucent appearance as though she were a ghost.

"I am the spirit of a friend of yours in the future," said she. "I have been sent to help you on your quest."

"But, how…" Kirby inquired.

"It matters not how I got here. It matters how I may help. Allow me to enter your souls and give you another chance."

"You mean like an extra life?" Kine asked. She giggled, a light and echoing sound.

"Yes. Will you let me assist you?" The friends could only nod. She began to glow and set herself upon Kine and Kirby. They received the exact same feeling as the seven stars gave them, and soon it was done. Still in awe, they entered the door.

"Yikes! Kine, you gotta move, NOW!" Kirby cried. A giant wall of ice was shutting in on them, and if they didn't keep going, they would be crushed! As if things weren't bad enough, Bouncy Tys kept jumping at them and then returning magically through the wall.

Kine and Kirby bounded through the area, burning everything in their paths lest they be destroyed. Eventually they came to the door, which was guarded by a Scarfy. Panicked, they flamed it and entered the door.

They fell a few feet onto some disintegrating blocks… which were situated on top of dangerous spikes! Boy, if I had a dime for every time Kine had to jump in this level…

"Good thinking, Kine. You used one of the blocks that hadn't collapsed yet to leap up onto the solid ledge." Kine beamed.

They kept going, destroying Sir Kibbles and Glunks as they went. Soon they came to a gap, which they decided to explore. They found three more chasms that were blocked by Ice Power Blocks. They saw very useful items in the ones on the sides, but they were most interested in the one in the center. Kine could swear, through the cloudy glass, that he could see a door!

Kirby looked around to find a way to break the blocks, and saw that they could spit fire from on of the sides and use those blocks to reach the center again. Kine did just that, and they splashed into the water that was in the middle.

"Kirby, look!"

They swam down past a couple Sir Slippys, and, after collecting three stars, saw that another door was there—obstructed by regular Star Blocks embedded in the ground.

"Kine, you can't use your fire power to break them—it won't reach the blocks!" Kirby cried hopelessly. But now it was Kine's turn to get an idea.

"I have a plan, Kirby. It's risky, but I think we can do it. Ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be, I guess." Kine told him the plan, and Kirby agreed.

Kine released the star, and Kirby quickly inhaled and swallowed a Star Block. Immediately Kine turned around and Kirby swallowed the Burning Star again before it broke.

"Kine, it's working! We just need to do that one more time!" They did just that—and now Kine could fit through the space to the door, which, it turned out, was guarded by pipes.

"Good thing you were here, Kine. Even if I had had Rick or Coo help me, we wouldn't have been able to get to the door," Kirby told his friend proudly. Kine blushed as he swam against the current into the door. Behind more Ice Power Blocks was the beautiful Rainbow Drop!

The two Dreamlanders cheered as they broke the blocks and grabbed the Drop. They went through the door above them and were again above the center gap where they had started.

In their excitement, they decided to go to the other chasms to collect the items. There was just one thing they forgot…

"Kirby… I can't jump back up there!"

Kirby looked at the tomato, and then looked up. Yep, it was definitely too high for him.

"Kirby, I'm going to have stay here. You can't continue if you stay with me," Kine declared.

"But, Kine, you'll get captured again!"

"At least then I'll be out of here—and I know you'll find me again," Kine reassured him. Kirby looked at his friend with tears in his eyes.

"OK, buddy… I… guess I'll see ya around." Kirby gave his good friend a good-bye hug, and floated up to the ledge.

"Good luck against the boss! I'll be cheering you on, even though I won't be there," Kine called after him.

"Thanks, Kine—good luck to you too!" Kirby replied as he continued on his way. As he sneaked past some Shotzos to the final door, he couldn't help but feel colder than he already was. _If only we had paid more attention,_ he realized too late as he exited the area.

Kirby stood before the boss door for a minute before entering. He could hear a soft growling noise as he finally entered. It almost sounded like a…

"Dragon!"

The boss growled a deep, guttural laugh as he advanced toward Kirby. "That's Ice Dragon to you, punk," he roared. He began to blink as he shot an ice beam out at Kirby. Not expecting this, Kirby was frozen in ice for a minute while the frozen lizard slit his eyes in triumph.

Kirby broke through the ice and reclaimed his lost Power Star. Ice Dragon wagged his tail and attacked Kirby, but Kirby used his flaming attack right back. The dragon roared in pain.

"No!! Not fire! It's too hot! You shall not defeat me that way!" he roared. Suddenly, Ice Dragon began to wag his tail at light speed, and he flew into the air right above Kirby! Kirby ran out of the way before Ice Dragon fell, but the impact caused some icicles to drop onto Kirby. Kirby did manage to avoid two of them, but not before the third hit him. Kirby hissed as his arm began to bleed.

"Grrr, I WILL destroy you, Kirby, and Master Matter will be quite pleased." He stomped the ground, creating an ice spike, and he shoved it at Kirby. Kirby ran forward, flipped into the air, and used his Burning Power against the arctic monster before he even hit the ground. Kirby landed and winced from the pain in his arm. Ice Dragon charged again, and Kirby decided the best way to defeat him would be a continuous assault. This lizard was tough, and he meant business. He charged back and forth through the boss and took out about half Ice Dragon's energy before he had to get out of the way of Ice Dragon's flying body slams once again. This time he burned right through the icicles before they hit the ground.

"Not bad for one who's injured," said the dragon, indicating Kirby's sore arm. "But it will still be your downfall."

"I don't think so, Ice Dragon," Kirby retorted. He took a piece of an icicle and held it against the cut. Fascinated, the icy monster just watched—which wasn't wise for him to do. Kirby removed the ice and the cut had stopped bleeding!

"What do you know? Wasn't it Aesop who said, 'How often we supply our enemies with the means of our own destruction'?" Kirby said as he threw the ice away and charged at Ice Dragon again.

Now the subzero boss was angry, and he charged at Kirby more furiously. This, however, did not deter our hero. Soon Ice Dragon was on his last bit of health, Kirby only needed to hit the freezing dragon one more time…

"This one's for Kine!!" he shouted. With that, he glowed brighter than ever and shot like a comet straight at his enemy—and destroyed Ice Dragon.

Exhausted, Kirby gratefully hopped on the Warpstar that appeared from the icicles above, and continued his journey to the next part of Dream Land: Red Canyon—The Desert Island.

****

Next chapter: Kirby finally arrives on a new island in search of the Rainbow Drops. Which friends will he rescue there? What new enemies and surprises await him? Will they ever see the mysterious spirit again? And what about the strange creature that had restored their health so long ago in Big Forest? You have to read and review to find out!

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A/N: OK, I don't know how long it will be till the next chapter—but I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I thank you all for reading this and reviewing. You have NO idea how much I appreciate it!! ^__^ And remember, Venus loves you! {VEnusAUR! (^o__~^)}


	7. Sparkys Begin to Fly Part 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dreamland 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it ****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: Don't you just love how I _never_ change the disclaimer? ^_~ Now, this is one of two chapters to get rid of the other "Burning Desires" I accidentally uploaded when ff.net was being weird… Well, it kept saying "error" every time I tried, so I figured it wasn't being uploaded… ^^;; Also, there's one thing I did in the story that doesn't really happen in the game. I did this to break the monotony of the same thing happening every time—you'll know what I mean when you come to it. Now here is Chapter Seven—with the creative title thought up by my Kirby pal and loyal reviewer, DestinyLord7381. Enjoy! ^_^

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Seven: Sparkys Begin to Fly!—Part One

Last time, Kirby and Kine were sure of their doom to find out that the star pieces had finally revealed their purpose and come to our heroes' aid. They (once again) battled Efreeti in the next stage and found the next Rainbow Drop! Unfortunately, in their excitement, Kine accidentally became trapped in a hole too deep for him to jump out of. Courageously, he told Kirby to continue without him, and Kirby knew he had to do so. With tears in his eyes, Kirby left the stage and fought the Iceberg boss: Ice Dragon. At first, Ice Dragon injured Kirby, and it seemed that Ice Dragon had Kirby trapped in a corner. But using the boss's own weapons, icicles that fell from the ceiling of the cave, Kirby destroyed Ice Dragon and is now proceeding to the next island: Red Canyon.

Kirby hopped off the Warpstar and scrutinized the landscape before him. It definitely wasn't called "Red Canyon" for nothing. It was exactly the same as viewing the majestic Grand Canyon in our world—except every part of it was a shade of red! There were crimson and brick-colored hues in the striped rock—even the river was a ruddy red from the sediment deposits. After staring at the regal scene before him for five minutes, Kirby decided to leave Lala Land and return to Dream Land (wow, under normal circumstances, that would make no sense ^^;;) to continue this _important mission_… (**Kirby: **^_^;;;)

Entering the first area, he came up with little trouble—a few Bouncies and a sneaky Waddle Dee that tried to charge him from behind—unsuccessfully. But then he met up with the "canyon" part of this world—a deep gorge.

"I'll have to fly to get over this," he whispered to himself. "And as much as I love to do that, all I have for a weapon is a puff of air—that leaves me vulnerable." He looked to the sky. "Well, I don't see any airborne enemies, so I could probably make it." He took a deep breath until he was twice his normal size, and then he floated up and over the ravine. He landed and exhaled the air so that he wouldn't start floating again.

Kirby regained his senses from holding so much air for so long and looked in front of him: a door, guarded by a Rocky on a new type of block, and two more of the foreign blocks on either side—above some very sharp spikes.

Well, Rocky was no trouble; Kirby inhaled him and gained the Stone ability once again. Of course, afterwards he tried to sit on the new block to discover it was another type of disintegrating block!

"Boy, it's a good thing I figured this out under such safe circumstances—I'd hate to think what would happen if I tried standing on one of these above one of those mile-high chasms!"

Kirby went through the door and found he was in a room with a very unstable floor—if he even tried to crouch down to avoid an attack, he'd get skewered by more of the pointy spikes. Unfortunately, the miniboss he met up with had several attacks that Kirby usually dodged by ducking—Master Green!

"Jeez, you people don't give up, do you? I've already defeated Efreeti more than once!" Kirby cried.

Master Green laughed. "Don't worry, Kirby. You won't have to worry about fighting him again… because I'm going to destroy you here and now!"

"What, no slashing comments today?"

"No, my annoying pink friend, for I was ordered to _cut_ to the chase!" he yelled as he whipped two of his harpoons at them.

"It's bad enough he has to shoot those things at us," Kirby muttered to himself as he jumped over the first harpoon. "But does he have to make corny jokes, too?" he finished, leaping over the second. 

"Well, you've already figured out that it wouldn't be wise to duck my attacks—I'm quite surprised. But I've also decided that it wouldn't be wise for me to shoot stars—let's see you defeat me without them, you poor excuse for a vacuum cleaner!"

Kirby's eyes went wide with fear, but soon he realized that he still had Stone power. "But how can I defeat him that way? If I drop on him as a stone and return to my normal self, I'll get hurt anyway." Just then Master Green leaped at him without warning, and Kirby was able to dodge him just in time. 

But when he turned around, he saw a shockwave speeding straight toward him! Poor Kirby wasn't able to dodge the light-speed attack in time, and he was electrocuted thoroughly.

__

Oh no, Kirby thought as the Stone star left him after the immense pain. _If I don't get that star back in time, Master Green will have me for a snack for sure!_

Kirby forced himself to recover quickly and raced toward the star. Master Green did the same. Both of them vaulted toward it, but there was only one victor…

"All right!" Kirby yelled. "Don't call me a poor excuse for a vacuum cleaner, because that famous power of mine just kicked your… um, tentacles!" Kirby then regained the Stone ability.

"Impertinent marshmallow! You still can't defeat me without the stars!" With that, he jumped at Kirby once again.

Kirby suddenly had an idea. Quickly timing his plan in his head, he waited. When Green was at the very top of his jump, Kirby jumped as well. He turned to stone and just as the jellyfish was underneath him, Kirby dropped right on top of him! Master Green's momentum kept him going, and Kirby was able to change back to flesh and blood unharmed.

Master Green, on the other hand, wasn't so fine. He swayed, spun around… and dropped like a ton of Star Blocks.

"Wow, that was easy—I guess he was still a bit tuckered out from the last time I destroyed him," Kirby mused as Rick popped out of the bag beneath him.

Rick took a look at the spikes standing inches from his face and froze. "Kirby…" he whispered. "Whatever you do, don't jump down!"

****

-.-;; "Rick, I'm fully aware of the dangers underneath me—now jump up here so we can get going!"

Rick gulped and hopped straight up. Before jumping onto Rick's shoulders, Kirby released the Stone star and swallowed Master Green for Spark power. Rick tried it out for good measure and an electric beam swung in a semicircle from above his head to the ground.

"I just thought of something—since I swallowed Green the last time I fought him… how was I able to fight him again?" Kirby asked.

"Um… maybe it's a hole in the plot?"

"Nah, couldn't be—then that would mean there would be a hole in the plot of the game, too. I'll figure out how he did that, somehow."

"Huh? Game? I thought this was a story!"

****

*Sigh* "Never mind, Rick. Let's just get going."

They left and leaped over a few more chasms (but not before grabbing a couple stars and a tomato) and entered the next area. A few more gorges awaited them, but this time indestructible Gordos guarded the safety of the plateaus.

"Time your jumps carefully, Rick," Kirby warned, "or else you'll end up getting hurt from those spikeballs."

Rick did that, but unfortunately didn't see the one guarding the way up the mountain.

"Aah! Rick! You have to pay attention!" Kirby cried as Rick recovered the Spark star… and from his injury. ^_~

They spotted a Flamer and a Scarfy, which were harmlessly guarding Star Blocks, but before Rick knocked down the wall of Blocks in their way, Kirby noticed something.

"Hey, Rick—you know that lone Block that is lying on the ground?"

"Yeah… what about it?"

"It… kind of looks like something is behind it…"

Rick broke the Block and saw a partial white diamond in the wall where the Block had been. "Ooohh, pretty…" Rick said, and he tried to touch it with his paw. It went right through the diamond!

"AAAHH!! Kirby!! It's gonna eat me!!"

"No, Rick! I think you found a secret door!"

Rick sidled back up to the diamond and put his paw through again, this time letting Kirby and the rest of him follow. It was a small room with a Potion to their right and 1Up to their left… which were both watched over by napping Propeller Bombs!

Rick's eyes went wide with terror and, for the second time this stage, froze. "Kirby, now what do we do?" he whispered.

"Well, we could leave…" Kirby suggested.

"Yeah, but…"

"But what, Rick?"

"I'm really thirsty… and we probably need that 1Up …"

"You're willing to risk going back into that bag for a blinking drink??"

"I haven't had anything to drink since I got captured at Big Forest! I just need Burning power and I'll be fine, honest!"

Before Kirby could object, Rick went back out to release Spark and get Burning. Re-entering the diamond, Rick felt a bit braver and quietly ran to get the 1Up and Potion. Unfortunately, both Propeller Bombs woke up and came hovering after him as though there were no tomorrow! Rick tried to destroy one with fire, but the other one tried to attack him in the process.

"You're being double-teamed, Rick! You have to jump for the door!"

Rick used all his strength and bounded toward the precious diamond… but it was too late. Two Propeller Bombs plus a small room equals trouble, and Kirby once again found himself alone next to not one, but two suddenly cheerful Propellers.

Enraged, Kirby used Burning power to destroy both the enemies at once and then started fire-charging the wall to release his anger (**A/N:** It really does help to do that if you mess up—believe me, I do it all the time. ^_~).

"Argh!! You just HAD to act on your stomach again, didn't you, Rick? Oh, this is so frustrating! But at least he was able to get a drink and the extra guy before he disappeared," Kirby vented. He then left the room and continued the way, breaking more Star Blocks and having to sneak past more Gordos and disintegrating blocks in the process. Soon he was back out in the open—with more deep gaps and a whole flock of Bronto Burts in his way.

"Oh man, if I jump over the gorges one of those Brontos will hit me… maybe I can fly over them," he planned to himself. He sucked in a mouthful of air and began his ascent… and found himself face-to-face with five more sleeping Propeller Bombs!!

Kirby's anger was rekindled, and forgetting his vulnerable position in using his air puffs as weapons, he demolished every single one. His revenge carried out, Kirby flew above the Brontos and toward the door, but not before grabbing another 1Up he spotted behind two Star Blocks in the side of the mountain.

In the next area he was again in a cavern inside a different plateau of the canyon with yet more of the deadly abysses. He decided to float over everything here, too. He looked up and saw yet ANOTHER 1Up sitting on top of two Star Blocks… of course, how to get it was another matter…

__

Well, maybe if I can swallow the blocks, then I'll be able to fly up there and get it! he thought to himself. He landed on the pillar underneath the Blocks and leaped up as he tried to suck up the Blocks—and it worked! He floated up through the gap he created and received another of the wonderful chances at life. Proceeding on his journey, he flew above all the dangers (including some annoying Shotzos) and met up with a new enemy: Blade.

"I have been personally appointed to keep you from getting any further, Kirby—I cannot be inhaled, and I will slice you in half if you even try!" he cried, waving his double-edged sword.

Kirby landed on the Star Block that served as one of two "stepping stones" above the ravine next to Blade. He looked at his knight-like foe, spun around, inhaled the other Block, and spat it at Blade. The enemy was gone.

"Some guard," Kirby muttered as he left the first stage.

In the second door of Red Canyon, he was relieved to be out of a mountain and back into the open. As he began to walk, a Bronto Burt flew from nowhere and hit Kirby from behind!

"Ouch! Great, just what I need—kamikaze Brontos!" Just then, he spotted a Spikey rolled up into a ball on a rock above him.

"That could work…" he figured, and he forgot about the Burning star to gain Needle power. He kept going and just as he sensed another Bronto Burt behind him, he sent out his deadly spikes. The airborne baddy never had a chance. Kirby effectively continued this plan until he reached the door.

He was in another miniboss room, but this miniboss was definitely new.

"Ah, here is my opponent," the strange enemy said in a serpentine tone. "I am Waiu, and my speed and skill with cutters will end your assault against the great Dark Matter!" With that, he sent out a cutter at Kirby and seemed to disappear!

Kirby was able to duck the cutter in time, but he had no idea what had happened to Waiu. Suddenly, Kirby felt a painful burning sensation and knew that Waiu had hit him. He turned around, and there was the robot-like ninja with a dimming fireball in his hand.

"Do you like my weapon? I call it my 'Dragonflame' (**A/N: **I made that up, just like Efreeti's Comet Charge—don't quote me on it, and if you don't like it, I'm sorry. ^^;;). It's very effective when used with my great speed. You couldn't even see me, could you?" Waiu chuckled. "Yes, I was up there—" he pointed upwards, "—searching for the perfect spot to stop and hit you. Only a skilled warrior such as myself can even dream to attempt it."

Kirby recovered from his burn, and he realized that spikes weren't gonna hit this guy. When Waiu disappeared again, Kirby quickly released and inhaled the star. He already knew how to beat his new enemy.

Just as Kirby had expected, Waiu appeared behind him, fire in hand. Kirby leaped over the Dragonflame, landed right in front of the startled Waiu, and the star hit the miniboss dead-on. Before Waiu could figure out what had happened, Kirby jumped out of the way, trying to figure out what else he could use to hit this guy.

"Oh, that was a lucky shot—but try to avoid this!" He leaped up and shot two cutters that came speeding toward Kirby. Kirby ducked to dodge the first and jumped to avoid the second, and Waiu once again left his view.

Kirby still needed something to hit Waiu. He looked behind them and saw the cutters on the ground. He tried to inhale them, and he realized he had a powerful weapon waiting for Waiu when he came back.

This time Waiu landed right in front of Kirby, and once again Kirby was burned. But he was able to hold on to the cutters, and when he knew the time was right, he sent them flying right for Waiu. The miniboss was hit double, and he went down. Kirby swallowed him and gained Cutter power. Another sack dropped from a tree above and Coo wiggled out.

"Coo! You promised you wouldn't get captured again!"

"I didn't."

"… Come again?"

"Well, I realized that Red Canyon is a really big place… and I'd probably never be able to find you to help you… and I knew you'd eventually run into a miniboss, so… I captured myself!"

"…"

"I sneaked in here and crawled into the bag when Waiu wasn't looking. He probably figured a Propeller got me."

"…Oh."

They entered the door to the next area, which seemed to be a sort of maze. It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for one tiny problem…

"Coo!! Look behind us!"

Coo did, and saw that a stone wall was closing in on them, ready to crush them into any other wall in their way!

"Time to fly!" yelled Coo, and that he did. He navigated through the stone maze, avoiding enemies and breaking Star Blocks with cutters before he could be crushed against them. But when they got to the final door, they found the most horrible thing: it was surrounded by dozens of Star Blocks!

Coo started cutting through them furiously, the wall quickly closing in. It seemed he'd never reach the door in time. The door moved closer and closer, and Coo broke through more and more layers. Finally, when the wall was just inches way, Coo found the door and flew through it JUST as the wall slid past them!

Both Coo and Kirby rested outside the third door before entering, their hearts pounding and eyes wide.

"OK, I did NOT need that!" Kirby abruptly cried. "This mission is tough enough as it is!" After a couple minutes, our heroes entered the third door.

They came upon three more doors: one on the ground, one on a high pillar, and one in a shallow pool of water.

"Which one should we go in?" asked Coo.

"I don't know—I don't know what they're for! Maybe if you try one, we'll be able to figure out what the others are, too."

Coo agreed, and flew up to the one on the pillar. They were in another miniboss room!

"Oh, good grief, I get so sick of these!" Coo cried. He looked over and saw a new enemy who was obviously related to Blade.

"I am Butch," the ax-holding enemy told them. "Beat me, and you get your little feathered… oh, wait, you're already there. Well, then whoever comes out is a surprise, now, isn't it? I hope you don't like surprises, because your chances of getting that far are pretty slim," he said, and he tossed his battle-ax at them.

Coo and Kirby rolled their eyes and Coo shot a cutter at him. He was gone.

"Man, he and Blade are nothing compared to the regular minibosses," Kirby stated. Coo nodded his head in agreement.

The bag opened, and the strange blob appeared once again. "Hi, guys! Long time no see!"

"Hey! You're the little guy who restored our power in Big Forest!" 

The mysterious creature smiled. "Yep—I am also the spirit of a future friend. I go into the bag when the friend who belongs in there is already free. Then I have a chance to help you!"

"So, you're saying Coo was supposed to be in here?"

"Yep, yep—and Kine is in the door with water, and Rick is in the door on dry land—but you have to pick one and only one to help you with the rest of this stage."

"I better choose wisely, then," Kirby replied. "But… who?"

"I think you better choose in regards to what's ahead," Coo suggested. "If there's wind, then keep me. If there's water, then you want Kine. If it's dry land or ice—"

"Ice? Where's ice gonna come from? It's practically a desert here!"

"I don't know, Kirby—but you never know what could happen. May I continue with my point, please?"

****

O_o "Oh… sure. Sorry."

"As I was saying, if it's dry land or ice, you'd want Rick because he's better on land and doesn't slip on ice."

"Do you know the terrain in this area?" Kirby asked the blob. He sadly shook his head.

"I've told you all I can—you'll have to find out on your own, but you can only go so far before a force field stops you."

"Well, I guess we'd better see as far as we can, then." The cryptic friend nodded and healed them before disappearing. Coo and Kirby left and flew as far as possible before being blocked by the field. But they were able to see far enough to know who would be best in continuing the journey…

To be continued…

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Next chapter: Who was the enigmatic stranger who helped Coo and Kirby? Which door have our friends chosen? What did they see that made them so sure? Will it be a wise choice? And whatever happened to Rick? You have to read and review to find out!

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A/N: Wah! Cliffhanger! And if you haven't gotten this far in the game then it might not be so obvious as to what's next. ^_^ If you have, then you know there's going to be a lot of secrets discovered. ^_~ I know this took me a long time to get up (stupid school—senior year is a royal pain), and I'm very sorry if it's even cornier than before. -.-;; But I still like writing this, and I'm going to work on it as much as I can on the weekends. And remember, Venus loves you! {VEnusAUR! (^o__~^)}


	8. Sparkys Begin to Fly Part 2

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 story line—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;

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A/N: Gee, that disclaimer sounds really familiar… ^^;; OK, I've FINALLY gotten a break in my schedule, so I'm here to dedicate this chapter to my two faithful readers, DestinyLord7381 and abcxyz. lol You know, abcxyz, there was no need to apologize—I understand perfectly how it is to find time for things like this. I mean, look how long it took me to finish this chapter! ^^;; Although, I kind of wish you'd give me a way to contact you w/o having to write a new chapter so that I can thank you more personally… :P I really appreciate everyone's reviews, and I hope this story is helping anyone who has been having trouble with this game. ^_~ Now (**_FINALLY_**), here is Chapter Eight. Enjoy! ^_^

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Seven: Sparkys Begin to Fly!—Part Two

Last time, Kirby found himself in SEVERAL life threatening predicaments, from endless chasms to more lethal Propeller Bombs, and even a wall with the sole purpose of crushing everything in its path! But with the help of a mysterious stranger in the third area, Coo and Kirby have made an all too important decision as to which of Kirby's three loyal comrades must accompany him next on his perilous journey…

Coo and Kirby flew past the door by the ground, past the door on the high pillar, and through the door that was situated in a shallow pool of water. They met up with Masher, another enemy similar to Blade, but with a spiked mace instead of a sword. He "greeted" them with a scratchy, country accent.

"Well, it's 'bout time! Me and Rex here," he stated, pointing to his spiked club, "was gettin' real bored just a-sittin' here guardin' this sack. Now we gets ta have some real fun!"

Before Kirby could even react, Masher swung "Rex" around his head to gain momentum and hurled it at Coo! Fortunately, Coo foresaw the attack and flew upwards as the mace whizzed by just inches below. Masher had just enough time to let out a few unmentionable words before one of Coo's Cutter feathers knocked him out. The bag opened and out wiggled none other than Kine!

"Kine! Oh my goodness, I'm so glad you're OK!" Kirby cried before giving him a hug. Coo flew over and joined the happy moment.

"What happened back at Iceberg? How did you get free?" Kirby inquired as Coo listened intently.

"Well, after you left, I figured that one of Dark Matter's minions would try to capture me and put me in one of these sacks. So, I figured, 'Maybe while they're trying to carry me away, I can escape.'" He paused and took a deep breath. "After a while, a Bronto Burt spotted me and alerted the… um, what's the word?"

"Authorities?" Coo offered.

"Yeah! That's it! OK, so then I just thought that maybe Sir Kibble or, at worst, a Miniboss would try to take me away, and I was all ready to squirm and wiggle out of anyone's grasp." Kine then seemed to pale. "But when the Bronto came back, he didn't have anyone like that with him; it was a… *gulp* Propeller Bomb!" Kine squeezed his eyes shut at the thought. Coo looked sympathetic as Kirby's face fell.

"Oh, Kine, I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have left you there by yourself…" he trailed off.

"It wasn't your fault, Kirby—I mean, if you'd stayed, they'd have caught you, too, and it would have been over. Being stuffed into a bag isn't so bad when you know your best buddy is on his way to get you." Kirby smiled.

"Thanks, pal. I'm glad you have as much faith in me as I have in you."

"Um… I'd hate to break up this happy reunion," Coo interrupted, "but I think it's time to get going. And you guys will have plenty of time to talk while you're kicking the tails off those baddies!"

"But what about you? What if they send a Propeller after you as well?" Kirby asked.

"Don't worry—capturing myself worked so well, I might just do it again… it's better than flapping my wings off trying to look for you."

"But—"

"No 'buts' about it. I'm a big bird now—I'll be fine," Coo reassured him.

"OK, Coo. You're probably right." He turned to Kine. "Shall we go?"

"You bet!"

Kine took Kirby into his mouth once more and they exited the room, Coo flying west while Kine and Kirby went east to continue the journey. Then they came upon the reason Kirby thought it would be best to be with Kine—water. Kine bounded up to the edge of the pond and splashed right in. Seeing some stars, they grabbed them before jumping out on the other side. Unfortunately, they didn't expect three Kabus to appear from nowhere and tackle them.

"Ouch! Where did THOSE come from?" Kine cried. And if that wasn't bad enough… a Propeller Bomb had decided to join them in the ramming fest!

"Quick, Kine, look up there!"

He looked where Kirby was pointing as he was bounding away from the dangerous minion and saw Waddle Dees drifting with Floatys.

"Jump so I can suck one up! We'll teach that sorry excuse for a helicopter who's boss."

Kine did so, and neither Waddle Dee nor Floaty the Drifter knew what hit them. They acquired the Parasol ability and turned to face the Propeller… but it was gone.

"Hm, I guess it gave up," mused Kine. He turned around again to find the Propeller Bomb charging straight at him! But he quickly used Parasol power, and a red-and-white striped umbrella popped out of his mouth just in time to shield him and Kirby from the tear-shaped enemy. 

The Propeller just kept pushing against the parasol with all its might, trying to break through it to put Kine where Dark Matter wanted him: away from that meddling pink puff, Kirby!

Kirby was behind the umbrella, helping out his fish friend, when suddenly, the Propeller just couldn't keep it up—and finally self-destructed from exhaustion.

Breathing sighs of relief, Kine and Kirby continued their mission. They got rid of a few Waddle Dees and Bronto Burts before they arrived at the next door.

Here, they found even more water! And also quite a few Squishy Squids leaping around hoping to hit them. Avoiding the jumpy jellyfish, Kine leaped into the water and grabbed a delicious Maxim Tomato underneath the platform they had just been on, restoring all energy. Kine and Kirby continued swimming, avoiding the painful bubbles of more Glunks and the unexpected attacks of Kabus. Soon they came to three mysterious pipes.

"Hey, Kirby? What do you suppose these are for?"

Kirby had just opened his mouth to reply when out from each pipe like a charmed cobra came a slithery little creature called Elieel. The ones in the end pipes just stared at our heroes, but the one in the center vaulted itself right at them! Fortunately, Kine ducked just in time to watch the snake-like creature just bound away.

Then they came to what seemed to be a maze of water. Of course, Kine found absolutely no harm in this…

"C'mon, Kirby. How bad can it be? Besides, I'm the best swimmer in DreamLand, remember? It'll be fun!"

"Well, it seems to be the only way we can go… so I guess we don't have a choice," Kirby finally acceded.

Kine leaped right in, not even heeding the pipes that tried to force them into sharp spikes on opposite walls. Kine looked up and saw a way out of the water, and decided to leap out and take a look. To his and Kirby's surprise, there was a door!

Inside, it was dark, but Kirby could sense danger. Suddenly, the whole room lit up as a Sparky tried to use its spark attack to hurt them, and Kine and Kirby could see they were not alone. Behind them was a Rocky, and on a block above them, a Sir Kibble.

"Well, you remember the #1 rule about dark rooms, don't you, Kine?"

"Um… what's that again?"

"Always light 'em up so you can see! Get that Sparky!"

Kine released the Parasol star and inhaled Sparky, revealing a light bulb that lit up the room even more than Sparky's attack. They destroyed the rest of the baddies, and a door appeared in the upper left (well, their left, our right) corner of the room… but they could also see a door in the other corner hidden by the shadows.

"Which one first, Kine?"

"Uh… the first one?"

****

O_o;; "Well, yeah, but which one do you want it to be?"

"I just said—the first one! The one we saw first!" Kine seemed a little perturbed.

****

^^;; "Oh… hehe, sorry, Kine… OK, we'll go there." (**A/N: **Woohoo! Pathetic, attempted humor!)

In this door were three stars leading up to a Maxim Tomato that blocked yet another door that led them back outside the first one.

"I'm confused…" Kine whimpered.

But they went back in and tried the hidden door to see what was there. And there were three extra lives leading back to the same door as the stars did…

"Now I'm REALLY confused…" Kine whined.

"Don't worry, Kine. I think that's all. Let's get going."

Kine jumped back into the water and continued the maze, trying to use Spark to break some Star Blocks that guarded the way to three more stars, but couldn't. He had to lose the power, suck up the blocks, grab the stars, and then go back to the first door to get Spark power again. Needless to say, his confusion level went up considerably… but Kirby was there to help, so he got over it and completed the maze to the very last door.

Suddenly, everything was very dry. Leaping up the rocky cliff, Kine and Kirby made their way to the final door, destroying Broom Hatters along the way. But just when they were about to meet open air, what should they find but a sleeping Propeller… AGAIN.

"You know, I'm getting REALLY sick of those things…" Kine growled.

"Me, too," Kirby replied, "but I have an idea." He whispered something to Kine, who giggled, and then jumped up to shock a Broom Hatter. Just as the Propeller Bomb woke up from the noise and attacked, Kine unveiled another light bulb. The Propeller tried with all its might to break the bulb and get to Kine as Kine tried with all his might to keep the electricity flowing to destroy the baddy. But the Propeller was no match for Kine's power, and it exploded on the spot. Kine and Kirby made their way up past a few Gordos and Scarfys before entering the final door.

In door #4 (**Kirby: ***grumbles about game shows*), our heroes found themselves upon a rocky cliff with nowhere to go but over the gaps. Only tall, unsteady rock formations gave them somewhere to go, and Bronto Burts were EVERYWHERE! Kine jumped to the first platform, but was frightened by a Bronto and slipped. Expecting to lose a life, he and Kirby were surprised to find themselves on a platform they hadn't seen! Looking behind them, they saw more that lead to a cave in the cliff. Of course, Kine's curiosity had to see what was in it, and he just about fainted when he saw what his curiosity got him into—once again, not for the first time, he was face-to-face with a blinkin' Propeller!

"AAAHH!! Just how many of thmmmphhph!!" Kine cried before Kirby covered his mouth.

"Just zap it with Spark, Kine—I can see a star behind it!" Kine did so, and they grabbed the star before continuing. They leaped over the cliffs and ledges, avoiding several dozen Brontos, until they spotted the next door. Unfortunately, it was _also_ guarded by our favorite little enemy…

****

O_o;; "Wow, those Propeller Bombs sure are common around here," Kirby mused quietly. Kine only sighed.

"It's funny… the first time we ran into them, we were scared to death," Kine whispered. "Now they're just getting annoying." He jumped up and sent a light bulb rocketing into the sleeping enemy. It woke up with a jolt (haha, bad pun ^_^) and looked around angrily. Spotting our heroes, it charged straight at them, intending to send Kine to a Miniboss room. But by now, Kine and Kirby knew how to take care of the pests, and Kine attacked it with a light bulb just before collision. The Propeller Bomb couldn't handle the high-voltage energy and did just what a bomb is supposed to do: it exploded. Then Kirby and Kine jumped up to the next ledge and entered the door.

They found themselves in another Miniboss room, with the usual bag hanging and writhing from the ceiling—but the Miniboss himself was _definitely_ new…

"Ar, there be the ones what cause the Lord Dark Matter so much pain—now I gets to show you what _real_ pain be!" he cried. He looked like an overgrown Gordo—a black ball with two eyes and pointy spikes covering his body.

"Who does this guy think he is, Long John Silver?" Kirby whispered to Kine.

"Ah! Don't mention that place! My Uncle Karl went there once, and he never came back…" Kirby only gave him a puzzled look. 

But the Miniboss was not amused and felt he should put these "hooligans" in their place. "Grr, no, ye scurvy seaslime! I be Captain Stitch, and I got me orders to send you all to the depths of the ocean for good!" With that, he charged at them full speed, and before our heroes knew what was happening, they found themselves against the wall from the force of the charge. The Spark Star left them and was demolished by the Miniboss's sharp points.

Captain Stitch laughed a hearty laugh. "I'll be teachin' you to mess with the likes of me! You don't stand a chance!" Then he shed his spiky armor and hurled it at Kine and Kirby!

Fortunately, Kine jumped just in time for the armor to hit the wall. After a few seconds, the spikes reappeared on the Miniboss, and he charged at them again. Kine quickly jumped over him this time, and since Stitch's momentum was too strong for him to stop himself, he crashed into the wall, knocking his armor off and stunning him severely.

"Hurry! We have to hit him with it before he regains his senses!" Kirby yelled. He sucked up the spikes and shot them at Captain Stitch, who was hurt badly before he finally recovered. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper.

"Arg, you won't defeat me that easy! I'll launch me spikes atcha till ye drop dead of exhaustion!" And he did just that—but, of course, Kine and Kirby simply dodged it, inhaled it, and used it against Stitch again, leaving him with only one third of his power.

"No! I mustn't disappoint… Dark Matter. I'll get you, ye'll see soon enough." With every bit of strength he had left, he charged at them once more. But it was last time, for Kine again leaped over the charging spikeball, and Kirby inhaled the spikes to destroy the stupefied Miniboss. Kirby swallowed him up and gained Needle power before the bag dropped down and revealed its contents. It was none other than our furry friend, Rick!

"Jeez, it's about time! I've been stuffed in that sack for _hours_!" he whined.

"Well, that's what happens when you decided to cross the line from bravery to stupidity," Kirby joked. "But that was pretty brave of you back there to risk your freedom for an extra life." Rick beamed proudly as Kine gave Kirby a confused glance, and Kirby explained what Rick did to get captured in the first place as Rick scuffled the ground with his foot, flattered.

"Wow, you did that just to help everyone along, Rick?" Kine asked him with a hint of awe in his voice. Rick just nodded with a blush across his face. Tears appeared in Kine's eyes.

"Oh, Rick! Then you should go with Kirby from here on! You've been stuck in that bag for who-knows-long, and you were so selfless!" He turned to Kirby. "I can take care of myself from here, honest. You and Rick go on."

"Well, if you insist, Kine… but if I catch you in another bag, it better be because you went there yourself, like Coo did." Kine giggled.

"OK, Kirby, I promise." Kirby hopped onto Rick's shoulders, and they both waved goodbye to Kine before continuing through the door.

"Whoa!"

In this area, the wind was unbearably strong, and it blew Rick and Kirby along against their will. They were shoved into spikes and enemies a couple times before they finally found shelter behind a bridge.

"Whew, that was close!" Rick sighed. He sensed a Flamer behind him and used Needle power to emit spikes from his back to obliterate the fireball as it charged.

"Eep! Jeez, Rick, could you _please_ warn me before you do that next time? I was almost skewered!"

"Sorry, Kirby. I'll be more careful—but what are we going to do about this awful…" he trailed off. As he looked behind him he saw a familiar diamond with a familiar Star Block in front of it. Kirby saw it, too.

"Kirby, do you suppose it could be another door?" Rick inquired.

"Only one way to find out," he answered, and Rick nodded before breaking the block and touching the diamond. His paw went right through!

"Well, I guess we ought to see what's inside… huh?" Rick asked a little shakily.

"Only if you want to, Rick—but you never know what could be in there."

Rick stared at the door for a long time. _There could be more Propellers in there_, he thought to himself. _But there could be helpful items in there, too—oh, should I go in?… Yeah, probably_, he finally decided, and he stepped through.

He fell about 3 feet onto a block—a disintegrating block! Rick jumped back through the door just in time before he fell to his doom below—a floor covered with sharp stakes ready to turn him and Kirby into shishkebab. Outside, Rick caught his breath as Kirby contemplated what he had seen. The room had three of those blocks: the one in the center, but then one on each side that had a star piece sitting on them. He devised a plan and told it to Rick after he rested, and he agreed to give it a try.

Rick entered the door again, but just as he touched the center block, he hopped to the right to grab the star and then jumped back through the diamond door. He repeated the process, this time going to the other block for the star.

"All right! We did it, Kirby! That was such a great idea!" Rick cheered. Pumped up from the success, he then continued the journey, ducking enemies as the wind pushed him and Kirby along until they came to the door to the next area. They went through it before another ominous Flamer could use its burning attack.

Now they were being forced along by water currents instead of wind. Rick used the same method he used in the last area, avoiding or destroying enemies (in this case, Blippers and Glunks) as the water pushed him along. They finally reached the end of the maze and jumped out of the water. The path ahead had pipes in the ground, and when Rick walked over one he found that they were ejecting air currents that could push him up!

"Wow, this is kinda neat—I'm flying!" Rick cried, and he put his arms in front of him in a Superman pose.

****

-.-;; "Um, I know this is quite entertaining, Rick, but we have to get going," Kirby reminded him.

"Oh, yeah—I remember now," Rick said sheepishly, and he hopped off the air current to the next pipe. He kept going like this, but Kirby noticed one of them contained an Elieel and not air. Unfortunately, Rick noticed this too late, and before Kirby had a chance to warn him…

"Ouchies..." Rick rubbed the spot where he landed on the unfortunate serpent, and Kirby only sighed as he got back up and continued the course. The last pipe in the pathway pushed Rick and Kirby up to a whole new level, and Rick had to skewer a few Scarfys and Star Blocks before coming upon the final door of the stage.

"Uh, Kirby—how do we get around this?" he inquired, referring to the two Gordos simply floating from the ground to the ceiling and back again between four Star Blocks.

"Well, release Needle and inhale the Star Blocks—we'll figure something out after that," Kirby replied. Rick did just that, and he looked at the Gordos who were floating up and down, down and up, doing their best to keep them from going to the next stage. Kirby also watched them, and after doing a few calculations, he got an idea.

"Rick, do you see how every few seconds they're both up by the ceiling?" Rick watched, and he did see that their different rates of speed gave them an opening every few seconds.

"Do you want me to run through while the Gordos have accidentally left us a pathway?" Rick suggested.

"Yep, that's the plan."

"Sounds good to me."

Rick waited until the Gordos were in their vulnerable positions, and raced as fast as he could under them before entering the last door.

"Kirby, I'm sensing a pattern in the Rainbow Drops," Rick said.

"What's that?"

"Well, unless we missed one here somewhere, they always seem to be in the stage number of the island's number—well, except at Grassland."

Kirby considered before replying, "Yeah, you're right—and I hope the pattern is continued here, too, or else we'll be looking for a long time." Then Rick entered the fifth door.

They were greeted by Sparkys on platforms leading up to a ledge high above them. Rick swallowed one to gain Spark power and continued up. They shocked Blippers and Sir Slippys along the way until they came to a bridge of Star Blocks. Breaking them with his electric beam, Rick leaped into the gap he formed and found himself swimming through the water. He and Kirby swam and swam, sparking Blippers and more Sparkys they encountered when they jumped out of the water to more platforms. But the problem was not the shocking little baddies; it was the fact that there were two doors at the end of this area instead of one…

"… Which one should we pick, Kirby?" Rick queried.

"I… don't know. This is definitely new," Kirby answered. "How about if you pick one?" he suggested.

Rick eeny-meeny-miny-moed until his paw ended up pointing to the left door. He jumped through and they found themselves in a dark room with a tomato and a Blipper (which Rick easily disposed of ^_~). Rick gratefully grabbed the tomato, but something bothered him…

"Kirby, where is that cool draft coming from?"

"Probably from the way we came, Rick."

"Maybe… but out there it's warm, so there wouldn't there be a warm breeze coming from there?"

Kirby's eyes widened. _Rick is right!_ he thought_. How could such a cool breeze come from a place so hot?_ _I know that dark rooms like this usually contain secrets. Could there be a secret door here, too?_ He tried to sense where the draft was coming from, but Rick beat him to it.

"Up there, Kirby! In the farthest high corner!" He leaped up there as hard as he could, and they both found themselves on a tropical island with palm trees, Scarfys, stars, and… sleeping Propellers!

"Wow, I've never seen so many stars!" Kirby said, amazed. Rick traveled around the tiny island collecting the stars, but decided against grabbing the two that were guarded by Propellers. He didn't think he could use the Spark beam fast enough to be successful in getting rid of them. They went back through the door to the dark room, and then back out to where the Sparkys were before going into the door on the right.

Rick and Kirby were on a tiny scaffold made of rock, but jumped up to the ones above them as quickly as they could, shocking the Sir Kibbles that whipped boomerangs at them so that they wouldn't be slowed down. For beneath them, a giant slap of rock was coming up at them, and if they didn't keep going, they'd be crushed for sure!

They kept leaping up, sparking every enemy in their path, and going as fast as they could for dear life, until they came to the door to the next stage. Just before Rick went through it, Kirby cried, "Wait! Don't go in there! Go up!" Rick had no idea what he was talking about, but he did it anyway, finding more steps with Spikeys on them that led to—another door! He entered it just as the rock was about to flatten them.

Now Rick _and_ Kirby paused to catch their breath before opening their eyes to inspect this new room. They were encased in strange, crystalline blocks with two ridged black blocks above them.

"Hey, Kirby—these blocks look like Power Blocks! I'm going to try Spark power to break them!" He sent out his beam, and sure enough, the blocks were destroyed, letting Rick leap through the hole and view more of this vast room. He and Kirby found that there were steps leading down on both sides, so that's where they went. At the bottom stair, they saw two more Spark Power blocks right at the edge of a chasm—one that Rick had little to no chance of leaping over because the floor of the hidden room above it blocked his way.

"Oh, this is great. How are we supposed to get past this? I'm _positive_ the Rainbow Drop is in here!" Rick lamented.

"Well, you could use your Spark beam and break the blocks in front of us," began Kirby, "but… well, I don't see how we're going to get across without you bumping your head and falling into that hole…"

"…Kirby."

"Yes, Rick?"

There was a long pause. "You'll have to go on without me," Rick finally said, and he busted the Spark Power Blocks with his electric beam. "Now you can just float over there with no trouble at all and get the Rainbow Drop I _know_ is over there." Kirby climbed down from Rick's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"You know I can't just let you go."

"But you have to Kirby! There's no way I can jump over there and actually _make_ it! And I can't stay here because we'll be vulnerable. Together, we're a team; and when you're by yourself, you can take care of yourself with your powers. But what if they catch me while you're getting the Drop? Then they can threaten to do more than throw me in a sack if you try to stop them, and you'll be powerless. Please, Kirby," he pleaded, "you have to keep going without me. Sure, I've messed up in the past, but I can take care of myself by now, don't you think?"

Kirby regarded his friend as the glistening of tears appeared in his eyes. He gave a nervous laugh. "This is the second time you've risked your freedom to save Dream Land. If you and Kine and Coo don't stop with the heroics, I'm going to be forced to tell the Dreamlanders that their world was saved by you guys, not me," he told him playfully.

"Oh, don't say that, Kirby," Rick replied as he gave a little sniffle. "We're all in this together. We risk ourselves so that you can go on. You're the real hero, Kirby. If you don't keep going… who will?" (**A/N: **This is the big, sappy, after-school-special scene. It _has_ to be corny or it has no effect. So please don't flame me about it, K? ^_~)

They clasped hands in goodbye before Kirby said, "OK, Rick, if you insist. Just promise me you'll be careful and that you will only end up in one of those sacks if you put yourself in there yourself." Rick chortled.

"Looks like Coo started a trend," he teased. Then he leaped up the stairs and left Kirby to get the fifth Rainbow Drop. Kirby did so, and then left the way Rick did only minutes before back outside where the deadly rock was. Surprisingly, the rock receded back to just beneath the first door, and Kirby jumped down to go through it. 

Kirby found himself on a cloud way up high in the sky. He glanced over the edge and saw an unsuspecting Floaty on a cloud underneath him. Kirby then got an idea. He released the Spark star, jumped down, and swallowed the umbrella enemy to gain Parasol power. Kirby once again had a red and white parasol to use as a weapon.

"If I play my cards right, I should just be able to jump over the edge and…" Kirby's umbrella caught the air and he began to float gently down. Of course, there were Star blocks and other enemies to dispose of on the way, but it was generally a peaceful ride. He finally reached the ground with a couple Waddle Dees who had the same idea and entered the final door of the stage.

Kirby stood in front of the last door: the boss. He had no idea what kind of strange creature was guarding the Warp Star next, but he knew that somehow he had to beat it. Little did he know, however, that "it" was not quite the right word…

This part of Red Canyon seemed normal enough; a rocky plain with a sunset—no, a sunrise—wait, it's sunset again…

"What the heck is going on?" Kirby cried out loud.

His question was answered soon enough, for his new enemies came from the horizon at lightning speed—a sun and a crescent moon!

"Ah, here's our little 'star'," the moon said to the sun.

"Yes, but even stars blink out after a while," the sun replied.

"Who… who are you?" Kirby inquired.

"Why, we are Mr. Shine…" the moon said.

"…and Mr. Bright," the sun completed. "And we are here to stop your quest to save Dream Land. Better watch out! We're _experts_ at double-teaming, and you don't stand a chance against us!"

Mr. Bright hopped into the sky and made it bright as day as Mr. Shine hurled cutters twice as big as Sir Kibble's at Kirby. He was able to dodge them easily enough, but it distracted him from what Mr. Bright was doing. The sun hovered over Kirby and sent down a shower of flames that burned Kirby brutally and separated the Parasol star from him. Kirby inhaled it again and shot it out at Mr. Shine just before he began a rolling charge at Kirby. It injured him a little, but he still continued the charge, which Kirby dodged just in time. Mr. Shine then gave Mr. Bright a nod and they both leaped into the air and stayed there.

__

Now what are those two doing? Kirby wondered. He saw Mr. Shine create spotlight of darkness, which confused him—why would you want a dark spotlight?

But Kirby soon found out their plan, and Mr. Bright sent out a burst of fire all around that hit everywhere (including Kirby—he was burned again -.-;;) except the spotlight. After regaining his sensed, Kirby knew what to do the next time that happened.

This time it was Mr. Bright's turn to fight as Mr. Shine leaped into the sky, making it dark as night. The sun sent a fireball shooting toward Kirby, which he dodged as well. But he knew that Mr. Shine was also up to something, and tried to prepare himself for anything. Mr. Shine executed his attack alright, but it was more difficult to deal with than Mr. Bright's was. The sun's sky attack only affected one place, but the stars that Mr. Shine sent out came from everywhere at once! Kirby danced his way around them and even managed to inhale one to spit at Mr. Bright. The sun also charged at Kirby, but at a much quicker pace, and Kirby was unable to dodge it.

__

Oh man, Kirby thought to himself, _How can I possibly defeat the sun and moon? How does a simple Dreamlander defeat two of the most powerful celestial bodies of all time?_ Kirby looked into the sky at Mr. Shine who was joining up again with Mr. Bright for another Fire Flash attack. (**A/N: **Made that up, too ^_~) Kirby scrambled into the spotlight just before the searing attack and found himself face-to-face with Mr. Shine once again.

"Ha! Foolish pink puff, you should have joined Dark Matter instead—you cannot defeat us!" He laughed a maniacal laugh, and Kirby looked into the sky again. Mr. Bright was laughing with him. But what Kirby hadn't seen before was a small, bright yellow dot off in the distance—it looked a lot like…

"The sun!" Kirby whispered to himself. Yes, the _real_ sun was off in the distance, clouded by dust that the canyon winds whipped up in this dry, barren region. _So that's why they wanted to fight here_, he discovered. _They wanted to hide the real sun and moon to intimidate any challengers. Well, I won't be intimidated, and I WILL eliminate them!_

Rejuvenated by this information, Kirby was ready for the fiery attack Mr. Bright sent upon him, and he inhaled another star that it created. But he noticed something about it this time that made him think twice before expelling it.

__

This star has the same texture as a Burning Power star. Maybe if I swallow it…

Kirby did, and lo and behold, he had gained the Burning ability! With this formidable attack, he knew exactly how to defeat this dimwitted duo. He waltzed right up to Mr. Shine, who was about to throw a cutter, and said, "Who's gonna get burned now, Mr. Pine?"

The moon was just about to haughtily correct him when Kirby executed his burning attack and went straight through Mr. Shine, burning him harshly.

"Oh, you'll pay for that! Quick, Bright, switch! I can do more damage from the sky!"

Mr. Bright traded places with him to do his own damage, but Kirby knew that it was his mistake. He used the same attack on Mr. Bright again and again, back and forth. Mr. Shine's starry attack did no damage to Kirby because he was almost constantly in an invincible fiery state. In the meantime, before Mr. Bright could even get a clue what was going on, he was defeated!

"Oh, you miserable ball of fire… get up here and let _me_ finish him off!" Kirby only laughed to himself as they switched places again. He knew that he had already defeated them. Using the same ruthless attack on Mr. Shine, the moon was also destroyed before the broken sun even had a chance to help him. They both floated into the air and exploded, allowing the Warp Star to appear from a cloud in the sky. Kirby hopped on and said to himself, "Thanks, guys, for helping me go on." (**A/N:** Good grief, I feel like I'm writing _Titanic_ or something—which I also don't own *grumbles about disclaimers*) Then the Warp Star carried Kirby to the next island: Cloudy Park—The Island of the Sky.

****

MEANWHILE…

In a dark room in a spooky castle, a shadowy figure listened to his Bronto-spy tell him of all Kirby's actions against his minions. Its beady eyes glowed red when he heard about the defeat all Bosses, including Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright, and Kirby's advancement to Cloudy Park.

Oh, just keep coming, you miserable marshmallow, the being growled. For if you even get as far as me, you will not find victory in my defeat. I will destroy you first, Kirby, and DreamLand will be mine! You, Bronto Burt—get out of here and continue your job before I decide to… 'fire' you. And as the Bronto Burt zipped out of the hall scared for its life rather than to continue its task of spying, the shadow laughed a quiet, evil laugh.

****

Next chapter: What new adventures will Kirby face in Cloudy Park? Will he ever find Rick or Kine or Coo again? Will the Rainbow Drop keep up its pattern and show up in the sixth stage, or will it knock our heroes for a loop? And who was the mysterious figure spying on Kirby and threatening his life (as though it weren't blatantly obvious)? You have to read and review to find out!

****

A/N: OK, now we are ready for a brand-new level—one of my personal favorites, at that. ^_~ I may just end up splitting Cloudy Park and Dark Castle into _three_ parts, though—I can't sit here and write 32 page chapters! It's tiring… -.-;; Oh, that reminds me—if you find any discrepancies in the story (i.e., I almost had Rick and Kirby fighting Captain Stitch without Spark power before they even lost it… ^^;;), please tell me so that I can repair them. But thank you all for your patience—I know it's been way too long since I updated. ^^;; And remember, Venus loves you! Although I've recently discovered that she becomes quite angry with flamers… {VEnusAUR! (^o__~^)}


	9. Cut to the ChasePart One

****

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 story line—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit. Is that all I have to say? Good.

****

A/N: What? WHAT?! DragnBlak has uploaded a new chapter? It's an apocalyptic sign! O_o;; Um, where was I? Oh, yes. I'm going to try something a little different in this chapter. It has been brought to my attention that perhaps this fic follows the story line a little _too_ closely, and after some deliberation, I agree. Therefore, I'm going to attempt using my imagination (O.O;;;) and try a couple things that don't _quite_ coincide with the plot (hey, gotta start small). I will give one minor example: at one point, Kirby jumps off Rick's shoulders to do something, but Rick is still there when he returns. There is also a much subtler, much more important thing—but you'll have to infer that for yourself. *laughs evilly* Thanks to tim333 (*gasp* a new reviewer!) for his constructive comment. ^__^ This chapter is dedicated to him and all who have reviewed this story—especially DestinyLord7381 who has been there from the very beginning. (^-^) Ok, on with the show!

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Battle of a Lifetime

Chapter Nine: Cut to the Chase—Part One

Last time, Kirby and the gang jumped over canyons and met up with more Propeller Bombs than anyone can remember. Along with a few "tender moments," Kirby was able to find and retrieve the fifth Rainbow Drop and enter the Boss room to get the next Warp Star. After defeating the imposters of the moon and sun, Kirby was able to complete his task and proceed to the next island. Now we find him just landing on Cloudy Park: Island of the Sky…

As Kirby hopped off the Warpstar to the puffy ground below, he looked up. Right in the center of the Island was a huge inactive volcano surrounded by clouds. "Whoa…" he whispered to himself in awe. But he could feel something besides wonder...

__

That ominous sensation… Dark Matter is close, he thought to himself. Entering the first door (I've decided to keep the doors for readers who haven't gotten this far ^-^), he found himself, literally, in the clouds. But this was no dream—Waddle Dee and Bouncy Ty were still on his tail. Fortunately, Kirby still had Burning power, so he just incinerated any enemy or Star Block that got in his way. Of course, since he _was_ in the clouds, he had to watch out for one little thing…

"Whoa!" Kirby yelled as his flame attack nearly propelled him off a cloud and into the open sky, and he inhaled air to start floating and landed lightly back on the cloud. Just as he was about to exhale, he saw a peculiar thing. A Poppy Bro. Jr. was coming right toward him, but instead of rolling its way at him on top of an apple, he was riding a Maxim Tomato!

__

If I hit that Tomato with my puffball, I'll destroy it before I have a chance to use it! I have an idea…Kirby quickly calculated to himself. He exhaled in another direction and discarded the Burning star (since it probably wasn't a good idea to use that way up here anyway… ^^;). He then turned in Jr.'s direction and swallowed him before the little guy had any idea what was going on. And left there on the fluffy white ground was the Tomato, which Kirby ate to replenish his energy.

Kirby continued on, meeting up with jets of wind that tried to push Kirby into the indestructible Gordos and the ever-annoying Bronto Burts. Kirby managed to maneuver his way around the obstacles and proceeded to the next area.

Kirby was again on solid ground, plateaus to be exact. But they were so high in the air, there were still clouds all around him. But this didn't daunt our hero, and he continued his way from ledge to ledge, avoiding Shotzos and also gaining Cutter power from an unsuspecting Sir Kibble. Soon enough he came to what seemed like a huge cloud. Well, all the other clouds were solid enough for him to walk on, so he didn't give a second thought to just leaping on top. Unfortunately…

"Eeeeeep!" Kirby could feel a part of the cloud disappear from under him, and he grabbed onto the ledge of a plateau just in time before becoming some sixth grader's gravity experiment. Kirby struggled up the ledge (on account of his… well, short limbs) and turned toward the huge cloud. He put a hand out and touched it. Sure enough, another piece of the colossal cumulus disappeared! And as he looked even more closely, Kirby could see that it disintegrated in the shape of—

"A block!" Now Kirby could see that it was a huge cloud made of small, disintegrating cloud blocks.

"Well," Kirby said to himself, "I'll just have to go through the top and float down to see what this thing is most likely hiding." He did just that, and, sure enough, the ball of cloud blocks was concealing a door.

Entering, he came upon another miniboss room. Jumpershoot was the keeper of this one, and he did not look very happy…

"Ha! I was wondering how long it would take your tiny mind to figure out how to get here," he taunted. "Now I finally get the pleasure to destroy you once and for all!" Jumpershoot began his spinning assault on Kirby, but Kirby was able to hit him a few times with his cutters before jumping out of the way.

"How many times do I have to defeat you before _your_ tiny mind realizes that you can never win?" Kirby retorted, which only seemed to make the miniboss even angrier.

"Don't mock me, you pest! Dark Matter was kind enough to give me another chance, and I _won't_ disappoint him!" With that, he used his other attack: he threw his sandal at Kirby.

****

-.-; "Jeez, are you _still_ using that lame attack? I mean, does anyone _really_ fear your shoe?" And as that raised another notch on Jumpershoot's temper, Kirby laughed inwardly. _Soon he'll be too riled up to know what's going on, and that will make it easier to penetrate his spinning attack with my cutters._

"Why, you… stupid… blasted… oh, I can't stand… grr!!" Finally at a loss for words, all he could manage to do was jump up and down in frustration. Kirby knew this was the perfect time to attack. He went right up to the raging enemy and shot cutters at him as hard as he could. Finally, the miniboss could take no more, and he was down. 

"So much for not disappointing Matter," Kirby muttered as he destroyed Jumpershoot with a cutter. From a familiar sack beneath a thin floor came none other than our furry friend, Rick. He stretched and jumped up beside Kirby.

"Believe it or not, it's actually starting to get kinda cozy in those bags," Rick mused.

"…"

"What? It is! See for yourself," he said, holding up the bag.

"Um, I think I'll pass, Rick. Can't you feel that evil in the atmosphere?" Kirby turned around, gazing warily around the room. "I think we may be running out of time—we ought to get going."

Rick seemed to make an annoyed face as he tossed the bag aside and Kirby jumped on his shoulders. Kirby didn't notice, however, and our heroes continued on their way.

Leaping from ledge to ledge, the duo persevered in the mission. Rick had a marvelous time with Cutter power, using Kirby as a boomerang to slice and dice the baddies. Soon they came to a bridge made from nothing but cloud blocks. But not only did the miles-high bridge disappear almost as soon as they touched it, but a flock of Brontos started charging straight toward them to try to knock them off balance! Rick, however, was very nimble for being a hamster, and he hopped and dodged his way across the bridge to the door.

Rick and Kirby were relieved to find themselves back on solid cloud again (**Kirby:** …). This time they realized that the only way to go was up… unless they wanted to fall off the face of Dream Land, of course. Kirby also noticed two strange pipes in front of them. It looked like someone had taken two paper tubes, cut them in half, and then put each pair of halves back together a couple feet apart. Rick, being the curious critter he is, decided to step right through the first one. A stream of air pushed him and Kirby up, almost knocking them into a Flamer awaiting their arrival! But Rick kicked his way out as hard as he could before he had a chance to suffer second-degree burns.

Flamer didn't appreciate having such victory snatched from him, however, and began spinning to power up for a charge. Rick was concentrating so hard on not being hit by him, though, that he didn't notice Sir Kibble taking aim at him from right behind. But Kirby saw him and he got an idea.

"Rick, when I say 'jump,' leap as high as you can into the pipe." Rick nodded as he kept a watchful eye on Flamer.

As soon as Sir Kibble put his arm up to throw the cutter and Flamer paused for a millisecond to start the attack, Kirby yelled the command. Rick jumped into the pipe and rode up as he and Kirby saw Flamer obliterate the cutter and Sir Kibble's desperate but failed attempt to get out of the way of Flamer's high-speed attack. They were still laughing as they rode to the top and got rid of two Bouncys, grabbed a Tomato and left the area through the last door.

In the second area they decided to cover, Rick and Kirby noticed that it was considerable colder than before. Even a few Master Pengys made their home in this particular region.

"Well, if it's going to be cold, maybe it would be a good idea for us to be cold, too," Kirby suggested, pointing to a Pengy a few yards away.

Rick smiled and released the Cutter star to swallow the poor penguin. They kept going across the terrain, discovering bubble-like Power Blocks that broke only under the pressure of Ice Power and gaining an extra life. They used this to their advantage again when they came to the door surrounded by the Ice Power Blocks.

"Jeez, these temperature changes _can't_ be good for us," Rick muttered, for now it was suddenly quite warm. He and Kirby walked up to a familiar-looking pipe and, as expected, were propelled upwards for a short distance to a star piece. Now they could see small platforms forming an arc across a huge gap, each with pipes leading to a treat at the top. The one at the top of the arc led to a 1-Up, but Kirby's keen eyes could see something else…

"Hey! Look! There's a platform underneath the highest one! Don't you see it, Rick?" The orange-and-white rodent began to look uneasy.

"Yeah, I see it…"

"Well, let's go! What's the matter, Rick?"

****

O_o; "Oh, nothing. I… I'm just afraid that if we try to get to it, we'll miss and fall."

"Aw, it will be a piece of cake for you, Rick. And I'll help you out," Kirby reassured him. Rick gulped.

"Well, okay…"

So they leaped from pipe to pipe until they came to the highest one, avoiding more of the stupid Brontos (**A/N: **…that I'm starting to hate as much as the Propeller Bombs… ^^;) as they went. Rick landed on the very edge of the platform and looked down.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Kirby?"

"Well, it's better than not looking—the Rainbow Drop could be down there."

Reluctantly, Rick hopped off and landed lightly on the platform below. It contained a door in a pool of water, so, naturally, our heroes went inside.

"Aaaiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!!"

Instantly a strong stream of water was hurling them straight into a pair of Gordos! Using his strong legs, Rick pumped himself and Kirby down and out of the current.

"Wow! That is one strong current! I wonder where it's coming from…"

"Kirby, look! A door is right past those Gordos! Wanna check it out?"

"Sure, as soon as I find the source of the water—hey! Star pieces!"

Kirby hopped off Rick's shoulders and swam toward the source of the stream by going underneath it. Unfortunately, a narrow passage appeared that wouldn't allow him to go any further without being impaled. But he did ride the stream back to where Rick was and pick up three star pieces.

"It's too bad Kine isn't here—he could have swum against this current and found out what was there…"

"Well, Kirby, it's probably just a couple pipes causing the current anyway," Rick said, a little quickly. Kirby gave him a skeptical glance.

"I suppose you're right. But I sure wish I could take a look…" Kirby shrugged and climbed back onto Rick's shoulders. Timing carefully, they rode the current past the Gordos and entered a door.

"There you are! Me get you this time!!!"

Awaiting our friends once again was Blocky, and he was back with a vengeance.

"Dark Matter say 'Crush Kirby!' And me say 'No problem,' so, now I crush you!" he cried, proud of his logical (but terribly obvious) statement.

"Kirby, I'm getting de ja vu…" Rick whispered.

"Yes, me, too… and you have to give up the Ice star again."

"Aw, but I _like_ Ice power…" Rick whined.

"So do I, Rick, but it's too dangerous." Rick froze and thought for a second while Blocky powered up.

"I have an idea," he finally said as Blocky charged straight for them. Rick jumped out of the way and Blocky slammed right into the wall. A chunk of rock broke loose from the wall and bounded toward Rick and Kirby. Just before it hit, Rick froze it into an ice cube.

"Wow, I think I understand now," said Kirby. Rick smiled as the box-shaped enemy recovered and charged at them again. But this time Rick kicked the ice cube as hard as he could, making a direct hit at Blocky.

"Ooh… ouchies again," he murmured. Still weary from the last battle, Blocky decided not to go on. "Dark Matter no be happy," he managed to say before he blacked out. Rick froze him and the bag he was guarding opened to reveal their mysterious blob friend.

"Hello Kirby, Rick," he greeted them. "I am here again to restore your energy, but I am also here to warn you about something." Rick and Kirby paled.

"What's wrong? We're not too late, are we?"

"No, but there is a new problem. Dark Matter has found a new way to hinder the mission. I'm not quite sure how yet, but you must be extra careful, now," the helper said.

"Oh, thank you. I'm so glad you're here to help—I don't know how far we could have gotten without you!" Kirby cried. Rick nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

"Just remember, Kirby: you must always watch yourself. The enemy could be just around the corner."

"We'll remember," Kirby assured him. "And thanks again!" With that, the helper restored their energy, and our heroes continued through a door that had appeared after the battle.

They were back at the platform pipes, but on the other side of the chasm. Rick quickly grabbed the star pieces they had missed and then went back to the next door, freezing a Waddle Dee that had tried to hit them from behind.

It was a miniboss room! But… there was no miniboss. Not really, anyway. The sack was wriggling in the center, but guarding it were two Shotzos sitting precariously on Spark Power Blocks.

"Oh, man! Rick, if we could find Spark Power, you could use your Spark beam and get rid of them!"

"Yeah, but there isn't anywhere to find it here," Rick said sadly. "We need to keep going if we're going to find a way to get the Rainbow Drop." He jumped over the bag as Kirby looked back somberly at the friend he could have released. _There must be a way_, he thought as they entered the next region.

"Jeez, as if water isn't bad enough!" Rick yelled. Kirby couldn't help but agree as a powerful wind began to blow them toward not one pair, but several pairs of Gordos! Using his agility, Rick began ducking and leaping to avoid getting hit and losing the star, but at the very last Gordo, he slipped and was hit. The Ice star was long gone.

"Dang it! Oh well, it was nice while it lasted," Rick sighed. He and Kirby were now being driven into a wall that seemed to be very out of place in this cold, barren area. With all his power, Rick jumped up and over the wall, discovering a door.

"This must be the door to the next area," Kirby concluded. He and Rick entered, ready to keep going.

But what they found was not the next area; it was the next Rainbow Drop! And, like the others, it was shielded by Power Blocks. These particular blocks looked like two marshmallows smashed together on top of each other.

"Hey, I'll bet Cutter power would take care of these," Kirby suggested. "It's the only Power Block we haven't come across yet."

"Yes, but… there haven't been any enemies that have Cutter power around here. And we can't bring it from somewhere else because of the Ice Power Blocks from earlier. I don't think we'll be able to get this one, Kirby." Kirby looked at his friend with wide eyes.

"Rick, you've been acting really weird lately. Are you feeling sick? Remind me to give you a Potion next time we find one," Kirby said.

"Well, I _have _been feeling… umm, funny lately," Rick replied. Kirby felt his head.

"You don't have a fever or anything… it must just be a bug," Kirby determined.

"Hehe, must be."

"Hmm… but where could we find Cutter power here? There _must _be a way…" Kirby began pacing around, thinking hard. Rick watched him nervously.

"I got it!" Kirby yelled, nearly causing Rick to jump out of his fur. "It must have been those pipes in that platform! I'll bet there _is_ something more back there! Come on, Rick, we've got to get Kine!" He hopped onto Rick's shoulders, again not noticing the strange look on Rick's face as they left the Rainbow Drop room and went through the final doorway a short distance away.

Back at the volcano, Rick and Kirby were deliberating where it would be fastest to find Kine.

"What about Iceberg? He's the first one you find in the third quadrant," Rick suggested.

"Yeah, but not until you travel for a bit. Hey, I know! How about Red Canyon? All we have to do is beat that puny little Masher guy and he's there."

"That… could work—"

"Well, let's go!"

"But, Kirby, I really don't think it will make a difference," Rick responded. Kirby was beginning to notice a tone that wasn't there before.

"Are you sure it's just a bug, Rick? Maybe you should go back to Grassland and rest—"

"No! No, I'm fine, Kirby. Let's just go," Rick retorted as he started scaling the mountain. Now Kirby was beginning to get worried.

"Well, OK…" he finally said as he followed his hamster friend.

They climbed the volcano and hopped onto the Warpstar that was waiting for them. They rode back to Red Canyon and entered the third area, making sure to enter the watery doorway.

"Back for more, huh? Me an' Rex won't be so easy to beat now! We been practicin'" Masher greeted them. He gave his mace a swing for good measure.

"Uh, Kirby? I can't suck him up. How can I beat him without a power…" Rick trailed off, seemingly lost in thought once more.

"Rick? Yoo hoo," Kirby called, waving his arm in front of Rick's eyes. Masher looked on with confusion for a second, but then just seemed amused. Soon Rick snapped out of his trance and turned to Kirby.

"Since I can't beat him with any powers, why don't you jump down and get him with one of your air puffs?" he whispered. "That ought to take care of him."

"Good idea," Kirby agreed, and he jumped down to do just that. But when Masher swung his mace at Kirby, a net sprung out as well—straight for Kirby! Masher began to laugh as Kirby struggled against the net.

"See? I told ya we was practicin'" he chuckled. But before anyone could do anything, Kirby took a deep breath and began to swell up. The flimsy net was unable to hold Kirby's increasing bulk, and it was ripped to shreds. Kirby floated above Masher for a few seconds before charging and exterminating him with an air puff.

"Oh, Kirby!" Rick suddenly cried. "I was so worried! I was about to tear that net apart, but then you started to do that float thing and—"

"Rick! It's okay, I know. There's nothing I can't handle, right?"

"Right!" Rick answered. Kirby could have sworn he mumbled after that, but just then the bag opened to reveal Kine.

"Hi, guys! Why are you back here?" Kine puzzled.

"Well, we need you to get the sixth Rainbow Drop, and this was the fastest way we could think of doing it," Kirby informed him.

"Also, Kirby," Rick chimed in, "I think I am starting to come down with something… maybe it _would_ be a good idea for me to rest for a while." Kine gasped.

"Rick? You're _sick_? It must be the work of that Dark Matter! We ought to stay with you and make sure you feel better," he said.

"Uh… alright, but only till we get back to Cloudy Park. But then you have to go on and let me rest by the volcano. I'll be fine, I promise," Rick replied. He smiled to reassure them.

"Well… okay," Kirby said. "But don't stop resting until you're 100% better, got it?"

"Got it."

"Okay, Kine—let's get that Drop!" All three went through the door to return to the Warpstar. When they returned to Cloudy Park, Rick sat on a cloud while Kine and Kirby went to continue the journey.

"Good luck!" he called. "I'll be back as soon as I'm feeling better!" Just then he put his paw on his head as though he were dizzy and almost fell off the cloud. Kirby was just about to help him when Rick came back to his senses and gave them a victory sign. "I'm okay now—just do your best!" And before Kirby could object, he lay down and fell asleep.

"I sure hope Rick gets better," Kine said sadly.

"Me, too," Kirby agreed. They went back to the second area, following all the steps Rick had until they reached the room with the mysterious water current.

"Alright, Kine—can you swim against the current and see what's causing such a force?" Kirby asked.

"Are you kidding? I'm the strongest swimmer in all Dream Land! Nooo sweat."

Kine swam against the current rather easily, and, as Rick had predicted, they found that the stream was caused by a couple of pipes. But what he hadn't predicted was a door right next to them! Kine eagerly swam through and he and Kirby entered another miniboss room. This time, however, the miniboss was none other than Master Green!

"What? What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to make it this far!" the jellyfish yelled. "This wasn't part of the plan…"

"Plan? What plan?" Kirby asked suspiciously.

"That is none of your business! But now that you _are_ here, I get another chance to appease Dark Matter and rid him of you once and for all!" He chucked two of his harpoons at Kine and Kirby, who easily dodged them.

"When will you learn? You can't defeat us! We've done it once, we've done it twice, and we'll do it every time you even challenge us!" Kirby cried. "Kine, release the Ice Star—we're going to need Spark power when we rid _ourselves_ of this pest." Kine did that and Kirby inhaled it. Both opponents stood poised at either end of the room, both ready to shoot stars at the other. As if by some unseen signal (**A/N:** Wow, doesn't _that_ just scream "cliché"…), Kirby and Green hurled their weapons at the same time—but only one adversary remained standing…

*Sigh* "Did we not tell him we would win?" Kirby asked of Kine.

"Yes, we did—I guess he's not a very good listener." Kirby giggled as he swallowed Master Green and gained Spark power. This time the bag opened to reveal the female helper.

"Hello again, my friends! I am here to present you with an extra life," she proclaimed.

"Oh, thank you so much! You don't know how much we love your help!" Kine told her. She smiled at the young fish.

"The other helper told us that Dark Matter was up to something. Do you have anything else you can tell us?" Kirby asked. She shook her head.

"All I know is that Dark Matter doesn't want you to find the Drops, and that he'll do _anything_ to stop you," she said. 

"Thank you, miss. We honestly do appreciate all your help," replied Kirby. With that, the mysterious being gave them the extra life and vanished.

They returned to the sunny plains with pipes, and Kirby began to think. _Now, to get rid of those Shotzos, we need Rick's Spark beam… but he's not feeling well_, Kirby calculated. _I suppose, though, it wouldn't hurt to keep going—maybe we'll find out something else we need to know_, he concluded.

"Okay, Kine. *Sigh* We need to go back and fight Blocky again. Perhaps we'll find another secret now that you're here."

"Sounds good to me, Kirby. You've already been here, so you know what's going on."

They returned once again to Blocky's room, and using light bulbs, Kine easily knocked him out. But what really caused a problem was the furry friend who popped out of the sack…

"RICK?!" Kine and Kirby cried in unison.

"Hi guys! I guess I was just tired—a little nap and I was completely restored!"

****

-.-;; "Rick, I really worry about you sometimes," Kirby sighed. "But since you're feeling better, now we can get rid of those Shotzos guarding the bag."

"Oh, is it Rick's turn now, Kirby?" inquired Kine.

"Yep—we need his Spark beam to free whoever's in the next area," Kirby told him.

"Super! But, Rick, you take it easy, okay?"

"No problem, Kine."

"Alright, see you guys later!" Kine said, and left.

"Ready to go, Rick?" Kirby queried.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied.

So the two continued on to the Shotzo room, breaking the Spark Power Blocks and sending the little cannons plummeting to the ground miles below. After a bit of a struggle, Coo finally wiggled out.

"Oh man! I feel as though I've been in there for _ages_!" he groaned as he ruffled his feathers.

"Hey, this is great! You'll be perfect against the strong winds outside!" Kirby exclaimed. Rick only seemed to look pale again. And then they all heard a stomach growl.

****

^^;; "Heehee, I guess I'm hungry again," Rick said sheepishly.

****

o.o;; "Well, if you want to go and try to find some food, I guess you can," Kirby said. "Unless you want to come with Coo and me."

"Nah, I could never keep up with you guys in that wind. I'll just go on my own. Good luck," he answered, and he left through the door to find some food. Coo and Kirby looked after him for a minute.

"Hmm…" Coo pondered.

"You feel it, too?"

"Yes… it seems that Rick is not quite himself."

"He was feeling sick earlier—and I think he still is. He's been having these spells where he just dropped what he was doing and stared into space."

"Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to let him go, then?"

"Do you really think we could have stopped him? He's stubborn as a mule."

"This is true."

"I sure hope he'll be okay," Kirby fretted.

"I'm sure he will be," Coo said, and he flew outside.

The wind surprised Coo at first, but within a few seconds he had control of his flight. And Kirby was able to see something unusual behind them.

"Coo, do you think you could fly that way, against the wind?"

"I'm sure I could," he replied, and he did just that. They came upon a strange structure, underneath which was a door away from the wind. And, of course, they couldn't help but go through it.

"So, we meet again."

It was Waiu, the ninja and Cutter master. Kirby was pretty sure he wasn't quite as tired out as the others, and he knew he could never underestimate an enemy with such poise.

"You weren't supposed to come this far," he stated sinisterly.

"So we've heard," Kirby retorted. "But you all should know better than to underestimate us."

"Yes, I have learned that—and now I shall be more careful," Waiu said. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he was gone.

"Oh no! It's his Dragonflame attack! Fly up, Coo!" And just as Coo beat his wings to fly vertically, Waiu reappeared with his fiery attack.

"That was close," Coo whispered. "But I have an idea."

Using Spark power, Kirby sent down a bolt of lightning while Coo held on. The bolt hit Waiu dead on, and he jumped out of the way as fast as he could.

"It won't be so easy to defeat me! I don't tire as quickly as the others." He sent a cutter at them, but Kirby annihilated it with the lightning bolt. It was then that Waiu again used his attack, and Coo flew back and forth, waiting for him to reappear. And as soon as he did, Coo and Kirby used all their strength to hit the ninja—which sent him falling to the ground.

"Coo, release the Spark star, please—we're going to need Cutter," Kirby said excitedly. Coo did that and they gained Cutter power.

"Why do we need it so badly, Kirby?"

"You'll see."

They flew back outside, and Coo began thinking. Soon, he expressed his thoughts to Kirby.

"You know, Waiu is a well trained miniboss—don't you think it's a little strange that two hits with Spark power took him down?"

"Well, we used all the strength we had—and he might have been still tired from the last fight…" Kirby suggested.

"I don't know, Kirby," Coo said as he flew over a Gordo. "That was awhile ago, and he should have been able to recover fully almost instantly."

"Maybe this is what the helper meant when he said to be 'extra careful,'" Kirby mused.

"Maybe, but it just doesn't add up…" Coo puzzled as they approached the Rainbow Drop door.

"Oh, so _this_ is why we needed it," Coo realized. He shot three Cutter feathers, breaking all three Power Blocks at one time.

"Yep, and now we can grab this Rainbow Drop and keep going!" Kirby cried. But just before he could even touch it, Kirby and Coo heard a familiar voice behind them.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," it said. Kirby and Coo slowly turned around.

"Oh… oh no…"

And from not too far away, an evil, shadowy figure began to laugh. I TOLD YOU, it said. I TOLD YOU…

To be continued…

Who is this mysterious character? What will it do to Coo and Kirby? Is Kine okay? Is Rick truly over his sickness? You have to read and review to find out!

****

A/N: AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Aren't I mean? After all that time, I give you a nasty cliffhanger. ^-^ I'm sorry! I just got this idea and I _had_ to go along with it. :P But I hope you enjoyed it, and as usual, please tell me of any discrepancies. And remember, Venus loves you! Although I've recently discovered that she becomes quite angry with flamers… {VEnusAUR! (^o__~^)}


	10. Cut to the ChasePart Two

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 story line—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit. Is that all I have to say? Good.**

**A/N: *nervous laughter* Uh… I haven't updated since, what? February? ^^;; Accursed college! Praise heaven for Christmas break. ^_^ Wow, that twist really got me stuck… but now I have inspiration!!! I'm sorry it took so long… things have been happening… but I did manage to keep Cloudy Park to two chapters. ^-^ I tried cutting down on Author's Notes during the story. I reread my entire story and found them rather disrupting. And I'm tired of apologizing for my corny humor—I like it, it's how I am, and it's gonna be in the story. Heeee. Again, please alert me to any discrepancies, and enjoy the show! ^-^**

Battle of a Lifetime 

    Chapter Ten: Cut to the Chase—Part Two

Last time, Kirby and friends traveled part of the poofy land of Cloudy Park in search of the next Rainbow Drop. Rick, however, becoming ill, had to rest by the volcano while the others continued the search. After executing a very complicated plan, Kirby and friends indeed discovered it, but not without a new obstacle…

"Oh my…" whispered Coo as he and Kirby looked upon their new enemy.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!!! You are quite surprised, I can see," he responded with a sly smile.

"Who… who _are_ you?" Kirby finally managed to say. The enemy put on an expression of mock disappointment.

"Aw, don't tell me you don't recognize your old friend from Grassland. The one who was 'protected' by the Rainbow Drop dust under the bush," he said in fake innocence. Both Kirby's and Coo's eyes widened.

"Oh my… it's Waddle Dee!" Coo shouted. The strange new enemy laughed gutturally.

"Yes, that _used_ to be my name… but Lord Matter has given me a new name, now—Waddle Daa!" He laughed more openly now as Kirby and Coo took in this news.

"But… Waddle Dee… how? What happened? I thought Dark Matter got you!!" Kirby cried, confused.

"Yes, yes he did… but, unlike my kin, he decided he would use me in a different way… and that is no longer my name," Waddle Daa replied, glaring at the duo.

"Well, that's kind of obvious, since you're no longer anything _like_ him," Coo retorted angrily, for Waddle Dee had apparently undergone a transformation. He was twice as big, and his usually round, mouthless face was now skull shaped with catlike eyes and a sharp, toothy evil grin. He had twisted, ram-like horns, and it looked like he now had fingers… which were just three claws on each arm.

"That was quite a brave remark, my feathered friend," Waddle Daa said dangerously. "But you know, there is a fine line between bravery… and stupidity. Your quest ends here, Kirby," he said as he raised a clawed hand.

Kirby was so dismayed by his friend's horrible transformation, he didn't even think to defend himself. But suddenly, the razors that Kirby was so sure were going to seal his doom… were no longer coming at him.

Next thing Kirby knew, there were shrieks of pain as sharp-edged feathers fell in front of him. He refocused and saw Waddle Daa holding his right arm as the severed claws seemed to be bleeding profusely. Kirby could see that the claws were, indeed, fingers, and he knew that Coo was behind this sudden turn of events.

"_No one_ calls ME stupid," Coo said softly but solidly. Waddle Daa was far from impressed.

"You _infernal_ winged vermin! You shall regret that!" Waddle Daa cried furiously, and this time he charged at Coo, his left arm outstretched, as though to impale him. Coo tried to implement his attack again, but Waddle Daa anticipated it and just knocked the cutter feathers away. By this time, Kirby had overcome his shock, and just as Waddle Daa had come within a few inches of Coo, Kirby picked up one of the cutter feathers that had fallen in front of him and…

Coo gaped in shock as his attacker suddenly stopped in mid-strike, eyes and mouth wide open, and dropped to the ground. Coo blinked and looked at Kirby as he threw aside the cutter feather.

"Wow, that was weird," Coo said to Kirby. Kirby looked up sadly.

"I wish I didn't have to do it, though." Coo's face also fell.

"Stupid Dark Matter. He probably couldn't care less that we had to destroy a friend because of what HE did to him…"

"Oh, I am FAR from destroyed," a raspy voice called in front of them. The duo looked up in surprise.

"But… you're… you…" They couldn't even find the words as the mauled body of Waddle Daa picked himself up before their eyes.

"Oh, Dark Matter cares _very _much about his loyal servants," he said triumphantly. "He's even given me a new task. I am now too weak to destroy you… but I can force you to fight someone who can!"

With that, he stretched out his hand, and the Rainbow Drop glided over to him before Kirby and Coo even had time to turn around.

"You have to travel through Cloudy Park and the volcano before you can even _see_ your precious Drop again!" And just as Coo flew at top speed at the thief, Waddle Daa laughed and simply disappeared… which caused Coo to fly directly into the opposite wall.

"Coo!! Quick! Get up! This is no time for a nap!" Kirby cried as he helped his friend up.

"I can fly faster than you any day, you stupid Noctowl," Coo muttered drowsily. Kirby swatted his beak.

"Snap out of it! We gotta get that Drop!" he reminded Coo as he shook himself out of his stupor. He looked around frantically.

"Well, what are we sitting around here for, then? Let's go!" he replied as he took Kirby into his talons and continued through Cloudy Park. Kirby sighed.

-(o)-

"Well?" a sinister voice uttered threateningly. Two familiar, yet translucent forms cowered before a shadowed figure.

"We… we tried our best, my lord," the ponytailed one started.

"But Kirby… he… he kept… defeating us… he and his miserable companions!" the spiked one finished for him. They both were very tense for their master's response. When the shadowed figure stood up, they flinched noticeably.

"I should just annihilate you both for your incompetence," he began slowly, smiling wickedly at his minions' obvious fear. "But, my Bronto spy's reports have forced me to realize that perhaps I have underestimated Kirby.

"I shall return your spirits to bodies once again. Better ones. Ones I have created to be twice as strong and twice as fast. The others as well later, most likely, since they are only as strong as your former bodies. But don't expect such mercy next time you're swallowed by that impossible cream puff!" he warned, and he raised his hand, bringing forth what looked like limp dolls of Waiu and Efreeti, only a bit larger. The ghosts that had been hunched in relief entered the bodies, bringing them to life. Waiu's cutters and hands glowed yellow, and Efreeti's spikes glowed red with firepower. They turned toward their master.

"Oh, you are ever generous, my lord!"

"And ever merciful!"

"Spare me your flattery and get rid of that poor excuse for a dodge ball!" Dark Matter cried, his patience growing thin. He sat back down as they left the dark hallway, pondering to himself.

"These new bodies I've created should do the trick. However, it is possible that with his friends' help, Kirby could _still_ get past them. I might have to make my secret weapon stronger than I had originally planned…"

~(-)~

Coo and Kirby continued through the island, which was pretty mild at the beginning. Coo's sharp eyes even spotted a Star Piece hidden in a small cave in one of the gorges. But it got slightly more difficult as they entered the next area, for they seemed to be trapped in a box. With an invisible force pushing them around it. Toward enemies that weren't the least bit affected.

"Hey! Coo, you almost knocked me into a Spikey!!"

"Well, give me a break! I don't even know what the heck I'm flying against!"

After a few minutes, however, Coo figured out how to fly against the force, and spotted Star Blocks in the walls. He managed to position himself in front of the blocks, and shot three cutter feathers at them. The use of his wings other than for flying caused him to lose control for a second, but he was able to fly back up and through the new gap he created. While the force was going the other way this time, he was able to gain control quickly and saw three more Star Blocks. He broke them again, noticed more, and repeated the process till he and Kirby found the door and went in. The rest of the area was relatively safe, except for the Mumbies that kept appearing from nowhere. But they were destroyed easily enough with cutters, and soon they were in the next section of Cloudy Park.

And on they went, avoiding kamikaze Kabus ("Ha! Look, they just slide back and forth, back and forth, back—OW! That thing just flew at me!!") and narrowly escaping a Propeller Bomb before arriving at another miniboss room to be greeted by Captain Stitch.

"Arr, back again, I see! Yeh'll not be getting' away so easy this time, ya scurvy rodents!"

"No, no, that's Rick. I'm a scurvy _bird of prey_," Coo replied nonchalantly. However, Kirby had no time to respond to the quick sarcasm as Captain Stitch charged right up to them.

"Peek-a-boo," he said before hurling his spiked armor at them again. But he was quite surprised when it hit the wall instead of the duo. He was even more surprised when Coo and Kirby flew down from the ceiling, perched right in front of Stitch's face, and said, "Peek-a-boo to you," before chucking three cutter feathers at him at once.

Captain Stitch jerked back, dazed, and Coo got rid of the shed armor with a cutter before it could do damage later. He tried to hit Stitch with cutters again, but by this time he had regained his armor, and was nothing short of peeved.

"Yeh think that was pretty clever, dontcha? Well, you'll be laughin' in little pieces by the time I'm done with yeh!" This time he charged full-speed into them—which Coo easily avoided. Captain Stitch had again dazed himself, and Coo finished him off with a massive assault of sharp feathers.

"Hey, guys!" a chipper voice called out.

"Hi, Kine! Good to see you again," said Coo.

"Yeah, and I did just like you did, Coo," Kine said proudly.

"… and what would that be?" Coo asked curiously.

"I sneaked into this bag—no Propellers for me." He turned to Kirby. "It was kinda easy—I was swimming quietly when I saw Captain Stitch headed for this place. I jumped out of the water and followed him, and I just… ran into the bag."

"… you ran into it?"

"Yeah! It was hanging from his one spike, so it was wide open. He didn't open it to look or anything, so I kinda figured he wasn't suspicious."

"Oooohhhhhh, I see… and nothing saw you?"

"Nah, it was pretty quiet."

Coo and Kirby exchanged nervous glances, but Kine didn't seem to notice as he continued, "You know, Kirby, you probably just wanna keep Coo with you."

"Why's that?"

"Well… up here, there's lotsa wind. And being in the sky would be perfect for Coo. It just seems… right, ya know?" He looked a bit nervous.

"Kine…"

**^^; "Uh, yeah, Kirby?"**

"You didn't run into the bag, did you?" Kine blushed.

"Well… how was I supposed to know the winds were so strong up here? I'm a fish! I stay in the water…"

"And it blew you right towards Stitch, who just scooped you up, right?"

"I was planning on getting into the bag anyway! Just… not like that… and no one else saw me—I already told you it was pretty empty. But you need to hurry, anyway. That weird feeling keeps getting stronger—I think we're running short on time," Kine informed them. Kirby and Coo nodded in agreement.

"Well, OK—but be careful next time you're out playing spy. Are you _sure _there weren't any other enemies around?" Coo asked.

"Nope, none—why?"

"Nothing, don't worry. But for your sake, I hope it stays that way."

"Ha, ha, ha."

**^^;** "Ooooookay, time to go, Coo—thanks again, Kine!"

Kine waved a fin as Coo and Kirby set on their way again. First, Coo had to fly up a narrow passage filled with Gordos, and then another similar one with water. But then once again, they found themselves at the mercy of the Cloudy Park winds, but Coo managed to gain control quite quickly, and they were able to obtain many useful items, including a much needed potion.

They continued on, facing an entire area made of nothing but enemies and disintegrating cloud blocks, which wasn't too hard for Coo since he could fly above them. Not even the wind blowing against them was any trouble for Coo, though they did have an unfortunate run-in with an out-of-control Bronto, which almost caused them to lose Cutter power. However, they soon found themselves enclosed in a cloudy room with five doors for them to choose to get out.

"There's no other way to leave—I checked," said Coo.

"So which door do we try first?" inquired Kirby.

"Well… how about if we start on the outside and work our way in?"

"OK, sounds good."

They started with the door farthest to their left. Nothing but five annoying Mumbies which Coo easily disposed of. A new door appeared that led them back to the first room.

"I guess that wasn't the right one. Now the on farthest on the right," Coo said, flying to his right… which ended up being a very traumatic experience. 

"AAAAHH!! NOOO!"

Before Kirby or even Coo could react, _five_ angry Propeller Bombs had descended upon our poor feathered friend… and Coo was gone. Kirby stood up dazed where he had fallen from Coo's talons, instinctively re-inhaled the Cutter star, and looked around. Five adorable, cheerful Propeller faces smiled at him.

"Wow, if you guys didn't make me so TICKED OFF, you'd be cute," he muttered before brutally slicing them all with cutters. A door appeared again.

"Man, I hope I don't meet up with any tough winds before I can find Coo again… jeez, we didn't even have a chance against five of those things!" Kirby vented to himself before going through it. He found himself in the first room again. Sticking with Coo's plan, he tried the door next to the first one they entered.

"Aw, why couldn't we have gone through this one instead?" Kirby asked as he grabbed five star pieces. Again, he went through the newly appeared door to find himself in the first room. Kirby sighed exasperatedly as he then entered the door next to the deadly Propeller one. This one had five potions waiting for our hero, and the door that appeared had three stars (three _beautiful_ stars to our exhausted hero), and he was able to continue up the volcano to get the drop.

Much to Kirby's chagrin, he found himself being blown by a wind into a small gorge where he met up with Master Green. Again.

"Good grief, I've defeated you _countless_ times! Where do you come from??"

"That is none of your business!" the jellyfish snapped. "All that counts is that Lord Matter is generous enough to give his loyal servants additional chances to annihilate you!" He chucked two harpoons at Kirby, who jumped up to avoid them… right into the wind… that blew him right into Master Green.

"Ha! Foolish Dreamlander," he laughed as he grabbed Kirby with his tentacles. "I knew the wind would get the better of you sooner or later… but not _this soon." Master Green swung Kirby around his head before slamming him against the opposite wall of the gorge. He then shot harpoons at Kirby again, but missed since Kirby saw the attack just in time and lay down, the harpoons missing him by millimeters._

During this time, Kirby had regained his senses and managed to ignore the pain of being slammed against a wall at 20 miles an hour, and jumped up to face his enemy again.

"What? How did you recover so quickly? Oh, those infernal stars must have something to do with it!"

"Aw, you mean it has nothing to do with my own skills?" Kirby asked sarcastically. Master Green narrowed his beady eyes.

"Of course not—a pudgy vacuum like you _has no skills," he quickly retorted._

"Well, SOMETHING helped me to defeat you back in Ripple Field before I'd collected so many of them."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Green suddenly yelled, apparently frustrated his usually intimidating speeches were being used against him. "That was in the past, and you're NOT getting past me this time!" He hurled more harpoons again, obviously avoiding the stars that Kirby previously used to destroy him. But he didn't know that Kirby had other means of destroying him, this time.

Kirby quickly tossed cutters to knock down the sharp weapons in midair, and then began a ceaseless assault against Master Green. Master Green managed to hit Kirby with another harpoon to stop him, but he was very weak.

"Ah… you think one little cut's going to stop me?" Kirby asked him, obviously getting tired of these battles wasting his time. "You're done, Green," he said before knocking him out with another cutter. Kirby decided to drop the Cutter power and obtain Spark. He hadn't realized till now what the high altitude was doing to his stamina, and he figured he should use defensive attacks until he could find another friend again.

He entered the Warpdoor that magically appeared after Master Green's defeat, and found a familiar writhing bag beneath a Spark Power Block.

_Good thing I decided to take Spark power, Kirby thought to himself. He broke the block while a familiar purple form popped out of the bag._

"Coo!"

"In the feathers."

"Oh, man, I didn't think I'd find you again so soon!"

"Me neither," Coo replied somberly. Kirby looked at him with a puzzled look, then understood what Coo meant.

"Yes… where has Rick been?"

"I don't know… with how sick he was, it would be easy for him to be captured and put somewhere worse than these sacks," Coo said solemnly.

"I think we better get going—time may be running out faster than we thought if Rick's in trouble now!"

So they quickly began to explore the next area. They met up with more wind, which was no problem, and some Poppys and Rockys, and they soon found themselves… in the water.

"Maybe Kine should have stayed with you after all!" Coo cried, panicked.

"Coo! It's OK. It's not that bad. At least there aren't any pipes." Coo was a bit encouraged by this information, and proceeded to grab a potion and get rid of a couple Sir Slippys in the way.

Soon they found themselves in what looked like an underwater maze. In one direction they could see a Blipper; in the other, they saw a Sir Slippy. While debating which way to go, suddenly the two minions swum up to the duo and recited a little poem:

_Here's a watery maze, as you can see,_

_Only one way out, only one there can be._

_The best way to do it is follow him or me,_

_But time's running out for you, so choose wisely._

"… I guess that means we either follow Sir Slippy or Blipper."

"Brilliant deduction, Kirby."

"… Is that supposed to be sarcasm?" Coo only smiled.

"Well, anyway… how are we supposed to choose?"

"Blipper."

"Why?"

"Sir Slippy sounds too much like Sir Kibble."

"… Coo, that is the oddest logic I've ever heard from you."

"It's better than nothing, isn't it?" Kirby sighed and nodded before Coo began to flap and follow the Blipper. There were other Blippers that tried to attack, but Kirby easily shocked them out of commission. Soon they found a few Star Pieces… and a dead end.

"Um, Coo?"

"Don't even say it."

The Blipper turned around and said, "Oh, I'm sorry—isn't this where you wanted to go? Well, sorry, you chose the wrong one, and now time's up!"

Blipper grew to three times its size and attacked Coo and Kirby! Kirby's Spark attack stunned it, so they took the opportunity to swim for their lives. Unfortunately, Coo's swimming skills were… lacking, so the Blipper quickly recovered and gained on them. It collided with them causing them to lose the Spark star and only have a bubble beam as a weapon.

"Great, NOW what do we do?" Kirby asked. Coo just kept swimming along, trying to find the Sir Slippys to follow.

"There isn't much more than what I'm doing now—you could at least help me a bit by paddling yourself!" Coo cried irritably.

**^^;;** "Oh… of course." 

Kirby's paddling did give them a bit more speed, and while the Blipper was on their tail, they spotted the Sir Slippys. Using the bubble beam to destroy them, they twisted through the maze, always closely followed by the mutant fish, and soon they could spot the exit.

"OK, Kirby, swim as fast as you can!"

Even though they sped up, Blipper did as well. They were yards, feet, inches away…

"Made it!"

But they still had issues with water—a pipe was pushing them up toward the surface. Coo wasn't upset, since he'd rather be pushed toward the surface than a wall of spikes. They left the water, and Coo was able to gain control of the air current that was still pushing them up. But Coo suddenly began to hover, right where he was.

"What's wrong, Coo? Oh…"

Enemies were ALL around them. A Bronto had missed them by inches before Coo stopped. And hovering peacefully above them was…

"A Propeller Bomb!"

Coo used one wing to clamp Kirby's mouth shut before he said, "Shh… I have a plan. Just don't say anything." Eyes wide, Kirby nodded. Coo took a deep breath… and flew straight up as fast as he could go.

Everything was a blur! Brontos and floating Waddle Dees missed them by inches, and Kirby could see a _swarm _of angry Propellers coming at them. But Coo seemed intent at getting to the top as fast as he could possibly go. Soon the air current weakened, and they were able to grab some nourishment that awaited them at the top. Of course, with the Propeller Bombs speeding for them, they couldn't enjoy the food until they had returned to the volcano… ^^;

They rested on a cloud as they caught their breath. Looking behind them, they noticed that they had reached the top of the volcano, where their next boss awaited them.

"This is where we get the Drop back," Coo stated.

"Yep."

"I wonder if we'll be able to get it."

"Of course! Dream Land's in trouble, and we gotta save it." Coo nodded, and they entered the final Warpdoor.

"Oh, man, I'm glad this volcano's inactive," Kirby said timidly as he looked down from the cloud they were upon. He could see the volcano's peaceful, yet ominous opening.

But soon, someone joined them… a fairly familiar figure…

"Waddle Daa! Give us back that Drop, NOW!"

The mutant Waddle Dee chuckled. "I already told you, I do not have the power to destroy you—but if you want your precious prize, then you'll have to battle someone else!" He laughed maniacally before diving into the cloud. It began to quack, and Coo flew up to gain some control. A lone eyeball popped out of the cloud and looked around. Spotting the duo, it crept across the cloud, releasing random bolts of electricity. Coo was hit and fell to the cloud.

"Coo! Get up! He's coming back!"

Coo looked up, dazed, to see the poofy eye after him again. A sudden burst of adrenaline brought him back to his senses and he flew quickly up before the eye disappeared again.

"We still have Spark Power, Coo—next time he comes up, we can get him!"

"Yes, as long as I avoid those lightning bolts…"

Soon the enemy appeared again, and Coo and Kirby zapped it until it started rolling across the cloud. Kirby and Coo thought they had won… until…

"Ugh… I guess I'll have to come out and attack you directly!" a booming voice cried. Kirby and Coo looked at the eye in amazement.

"Kr… Kracko!" Coo gasped. The eyeball was no longer just an eyeball—it was set in a spiked cloud, and seemed to mean business.

"Ah, my feathered friend—seems you listened to the legends told by you elder avian kin," he boomed again. "Yes, I am the infamous Kracko, Titan of the Thunderstorm. Birds fear and respect me, and I respect them. However, I have been advised to destroy both of you."

"But… why?" Coo asked, bewildered. Kracko chuckled.

"Because _no one _gets in Master Matter's way, that's why!" he cried before charging at them. Fortunately, Coo was much more agile in air than water, and Kracko's attack missed.

"Coo! He's under Matter's spell! We'll have to defeat him to break it," Kirby informed his confused friend. Coo nodded.

Kracko then proceeded to shoot lightning bolts at them again, and Coo dodged them just barely before hovering above Kracko and attacking with Spark power. Kracko chuckled again.

"Really, I thought you'd pay more attention to the stories," Kracko said snidely. "I am the _master _of lightning—do you really think that attack would hurt me?"

Kirby stopped the attack in time for Coo to dodge a smaller version of Kracko that popped out of Kracko's cloud and flew at him.

"Well, if we can't stop him with Spark, then what else can we use?" Kirby cried as Coo avoided another Co-Kracko. Coo watched it float away and had an idea.

"Kirby, drop the star and inhale it—we'll use that first," Coo said quietly as he could to prevent Kracko's overhearing. But Kracko charged them again, and Coo was too preoccupied with his pending plan to avoid it this time.

"Hahaha! You are felled, owl. Expect no mercy!" Kracko began an electric attack similar to Coo's Spark attack, and was closing in on the duo fast. But by now, Coo was used to getting knocked into things, and he recovered quickly and flew up and over Kracko before getting electrocuted.

"So, you avoided that attack… but see if you can avoid this!" He sent two Co-Krackos at them at a time. Kirby still had the star in his mouth, and tried to hit Kracko with it… but it hit one of the Co-Krackos instead.

"It's OK, Kirby! Suck up the other one!" Before it even knew what was happening, the Co-Kracko found itself in Kirby's mouth. Kracko charged at them again, but Kirby hit the cloud with it and Coo flew up to avoid the attack.

"So you want to defeat me with my own minions, is that it?" Kracko thundered. "Well, see if you can handle _this_, then!" He sent two out again, but one went strangely fast, and looked like it was about to…

BOOM!

Just as Kirby was about to inhale it, the Co-Kracko exploded, harming Coo and Kirby severely.

"One more attack like that, and I don't know if I'll be able to go on, Kirby," Coo muttered.

"Yeah, I know what you mean… but we can do it!"

Kracko continued his assault of lightning, charges, and Co-Krackos. For their sake, the duo avoided the fast moving ones, but succeeded in avoiding Kracko's attacks and hitting him with the little clouds. Soon both Kracko and Coo and Kirby were on their last strengths.

"You have fought well, avian," Kracko rumbled. "But I'm afraid it is the end for you, and your cargo." He sent out another exploding Co-Kracko, thinking they'd be too weak to avoid it this time.

But Coo's ever-sharp eyes had been watching the little bombs; he noticed that they only went off after three seconds. He had expected Kracko to attempt finishing them off with it, and knew what to do. He used his last bit of strength to fly _toward _it, and yelled, "Get it, Kirby!"

Kirby didn't have to think twice—he was able to inhale it without it going off just fine, and Kracko's eye went wide before Kirby knocked out the mighty cloud. Kracko lay there, and both Coo and Kirby noticed that the dark aura around him had disappeared. The Warpstar also popped from the clouds beneath them and waited patiently for them to climb aboard.

"Well, Coo, looks like you'll go into bird history books for that one." Coo blushed.

"Yeah… wow, saving the wondrous Kracko from Dark Matter…" Kirby laughed.

"Dream Land will _definitely_ hear about this." Coo blushed again, but soon a strange form came forth from Kracko. It was Waddle Daa!

"So, you were hiding inside Kracko, you coward!" Kirby yelled. But Waddle Daa only stared at them before seeming to split in half!

Kirby and Coo shielded themselves from the light that emitted from the crack, and when it died down, they looked again. And who should be sitting there but… Waddle Dee.

"He's unconscious," Coo said as he examined poor Dee. "He must be exhausted having that evil inside him for so long."

"So what should we do? We can't just… leave him here."

"Well… how about if we take him with us? Just till he wakes up."

"Can you handle the extra weight?"

"Sure—unlike Rick, I can handle a few extra pounds." 

Kirby laughed as he picked up Waddle Dee and joined Coo on the Warpstar to the last island of Dream Land, and most likely Matter's headquarters: Dark Castle.

What new dangers await Kirby and friends now? Will Waddle Dee be OK? Just where has Rick gotten to? Has his illness put him into more danger than usual? And will Dark Matter show himself on the now evil island? You have to read and review to find out!

**A/N: Hm. Well, I dunno… I think I'm losing my touch. :'( But the only way to regain it is to keep writing, right? Of course. ^-^ I'll work on the next chapter, and hopefully it won't take so long… but I make no promises. ^^; And remember, Venus loves you! Although I've recently discovered that she becomes quite angry with flamers… {VEnusAUR! (^o__~^)}**


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